Family Matters
by coffeeandcupcakes
Summary: After Rose nearly dies on an alien planet, the Doctor has to take some drastic actions to make sure she never leaves his side again. These actions lead to consequences, but what effect will this have on the rest of the universe? TenRose.
1. Never Ever

Family Matters

"They keep trying to split us up, but they never ever will."

"Never say never ever."

Rose looked up at the sharpness of the Doctor's tone. He looked at her, almost wistfully, and then looked at the sky, which was dark with clouds; that and it was half eleven at night.

"A storm's approaching…" He said cryptically, as the pair walked up Dame Kelly Holmes Close, hands intertwined.

Rose was silent, before letting out a high-pitched yelp as a drop of ice-cold rainwater hit her skin. Three seconds later, it was pouring down so much they couldn't see two meters in front of their faces.

"Told ya!" The Doctor yelled, straining to be heard of the _thud_s of fat raindrops hitting the metal bins that stood outside every home on the close.

"Urgh! 2012 and the weather doesn't ever get any better!" Rose said, zipping up her demin jacket before wrapping her arms around her small body to try and conserve some heat, even thought the street was getting slightly warmer than it was now the Isolus was gone.

"Let's go!" The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand, tugging her to the TARDIS to get out of the rain, Rose only too happy to oblige. The rain was quickly soaking her thin jacket and the Doctor's suit wasn't exactly thick either. They reached the TARDIS within a minute and bundled in, rain dripping from both of them. The TARDIS whirred in indignation as water was dripped over her.

"I'mma go have a shower, Doctor," Rose muttered, too cold to speak as she walked towards her bathroom. The Doctor only nodded as he programmed the TARDIS to fly into the vortex, making the whole ship shake as she dematerialised. He quickly followed suit of his companion, walking as briskly as he could to his bathroom, the TARDIS thankfully not appreciating having water dripped over her and moved his bathroom closer to the control room. He placed his hand on the wall in silent thanks before disappearing into the room.

--

"Well, can we go somewhere dry_ please_, because I really don't want to get wet again. I'm going to get a cold at this rate, and imagine what Mum would do if she knew you landed us somewhere where I caught a cold?" Rose said, showered and dry as she sat opposite the Doctor in the kitchen, both holding cups of steaming tea. The tea was making Rose sleepy, but she was reluctantly to give into sleep, enjoying the quiet company of her travelling companion too much.

"I can imagine," The Doctor said, a small smile appearing on his face as he took another sip of tea. Ever since Rose had come stumbling back to Jackie after the Cybermen/parallel Earth incident, Jackie had become extremely overprotective of her daughter (more than she was beforehand) and insisted on calling Rose at least once a day to make sure she wasn't in a danger. _"I don't want my daughter stranded on some moon a million light years away, Doctor, all alone like poor Mickey!" _She would screech, not letting the Doctor breathe, never mind tell her that he certainly wasn't intending to let someone as special to him as Rose was stranded on a moon, and that it was Mickey's choice to stay in the parallel Earth.

"Do you want to go now, or go to sleep?" The Doctor asked, noticing that her eyes were heavy.

"Later, I'll go the sleep. I'll just finish this tea first."

"No point letting good tea go to waste!" The Doctor joked, but his wit was wasted on a sleepy Rose, who was in no state to laugh or acknowledge he was speaking. She was at the point where she was asleep in her chair. He silently laughed. Every so often she did this, staying up until her body physically demanded sleep. She did well without it so often, and was used to staying up for 36 or so hours, but even the Doctor knew that sleep caught up with her at some point.

Ever-so-gently, the Doctor picked up Rose; her head lolling to the side to rest on his shoulder, unaware the Doctor was carrying her to her bedroom. He bounced the door open with his hip, still carrying Rose, careful not the wake her. Placing her in the bed he took off her shoes, and laid her cover over her. He pressed the lightest of kisses on her forehead, before disappearing into the door on the other side of her room, the connecting door to his room. Truth be told, his energy was rather drained after being stuck in a picture for a long time. His mind was frazzled. He quickly changed into pyjamas, sliding under his covers, closing his eyes. His mind quickly switched off, grateful for the rest as for the first time in month, he slept.


	2. Powell Estate's Got Talent!

**Powell Estate's Got Talent!**

For once in his life, the Doctor was severely annoyed at being woken up ten hours later by his over-excited and very hyper companion. Who, incidentally, was certainly not tired anymore and was making her presence known by singing Take That's 'Back For Good' at the top of her voice, getting louder as she approached his door.

"Doctor!" Rose's voice rang out in a sing-song tone, drumming her fist against his bedroom door, before opening it with a smile. Her smile, however, quickly turned into a frown at the unusual sight of the Doctor in bed, his pillow firmly pulled down over his ears to block out her singing. Not that she was a bad singer – actually she was very good – but he couldn't be bothered listening to Take That at half seven in the morning. Or ever, in fact, now he thought about it.

"You alright?" Rose asked, her voice full of concern as she set a cup of tea down on the bedside table, and perching herself on the edge of his bed.

"Fine," The Doctor replied, his voice muffled through the pillow that was still jammed over his head. There was something warm on his right cheek, but before he could explore what it was, Rose's voice sounded out again.

"Then why are you sleeping?"

"Because I was tired. Slightly. Your fault," He said, waving an arm in her general direction.

"Pfft. You say everything's someone else's fault. I don't mind ya sleeping – you need it, you were trapped in a picture, then we got soaked! I'm surprised one of us doesn't have a cold, actually," Rose said, then paused, a thoughtful look on her face. "What did it feel like?"

"Getting soaked? Cold."

"You know full well what I mean. Getting trapped in a picture."

"Weird. Like being trapped in a box that was made of windows. I could see everyone but couldn't say anything," The Doctor elaborated, carefully extracting his head from under the pillow now that it seemed Rose wasn't going to burst into song anytime soon. He was a bit dismayed to find Rose in a fit of laughter, however, once he had fully emerged.

"What's wrong? I have grown tentacles or something?" The Doctor asked, but Rose was too busy trying to remain on the bed in laughter. "Another nose?"

Rose managed to stay upright for moment, and pointed to the bathroom, concern gone now she was convinced the Doctor wasn't ill. The Doctor realised she was indicating that he should look in a mirror. He reluctantly left his warm bed, and laughed aloud at the sight that greeted him in his reflection.

His hair, for starters, was in complete disarray. The side he had been lying on was flat against his head, while the other side had gone static and was standing straight on end. There was a crease on his right cheek where he had been lying, and in the crease and over his cheek chocolate was smeared. "Ah! That's where that chocolate went to!" The Doctor exclaimed, remembering last night he had swiped a chocolate from a box of _Quality Street_ Jackie had given them last time they were at the Powell Estate. He had unwrapped it and laid it down, to go and get changed, and when he had returned he had forgotten where he'd put it. He'd gone to sleep without another thought and obviously he'd put the chocolate on his pillow, it blending in with his brown bedcovers, and had ended up smeared on his cheek. He heard Rose laughing harder, if that was possible. "Don't be laughing at me, Tyler!" The Doctor yelled through to his bedroom, and only heard Rose's laughter in response.

He was washing it off his cheek when Rose had finally managed to regain her composure, and was currently leaning against the doorframe of his bathroom door. "How did you manage to leave a chocolate on your pillow? On your _pillow_?" She asked, somewhat incredulously.

"I dunno. Just laid it down somewhere and it turns out my frazzled brain thought my pillow would be the perfect place," The Doctor answered, now looking in the mirror at his chocolate-free face.

"Aww," Rose said, "You looked cute with chocolate on your face."

"Thanks, but I also looked just a teensy," The Doctor held up his index finger and thumb and positioned them so they were barely a millimetre apart, "stupid."

Rose laughed, and kissed his chocolate-free cheek. "True."

"Thanks," The Doctor said, mock offended. "Have you had breakfast?" He said, wandering over to his wardrobe to get his suit.

"Nah, not yet. I came to look for you. I looked everywhere! Kitchen, library, sitting room, cinema room, garden, pool," Rose counted off the places on fingers, "Even the Zero Room! I never thought for one minute you'd be sleeping!" Rose yelled, so that the Doctor could hear her, as he was in his bathroom getting changed.

"Yeah, well … I was," The Doctor said as he emerged, now fully dressed. "And your foghorn imitation is going to go down a real treat at '_Powell Estate's Got Talent_'."

"Oi! Just making myself heard, that's all," Rose said, hitting him on the arm as he passed, but there was a small smile on her face as she did so.

- - - - - -

Around fifteen minutes later, both the Doctor and Rose were sat eating breakfast.

"So, where do you wanna go today? Now that you're fully rested I'll take you to the warm planet you wanted," The Doctor said, biting into his marmalade-smothered toast.

"Yeah. Somewhere alien! We haven't been to an alien planet since New Earth," Rose commented.

"We went to Krop Tor," the Doctor said.

"Well, that was hardly a planet as much as a … space station," Rose reasoned, who was now finished with her toast and reached across the table to the counter to grab a pear from the fruit bowl.

"Suppose," The Doctor said, nodding, before frowning at the sight of the fruit in Rose's hand. "How can you eat pears?" He said incredulously.

"What? They are delicious!" Rose said, taking another bite of the juicy pear.

"No, they are not. I hate pears. Please, _never ever_ give me pears. I hate them. As much as I hate aspirin. Almost as much as I hate your mother."

"OK. Mentally noted," Rose said, rolling her eyes at her companion's antics.

"I saw that. Now, let's get going to an alien planet then! Oooh, I know where we can go! Felspoon! They have mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move, Rose! Can you imagine it?"

"Really?" Rose asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Really!" The Doctor said, running around the console, twisting knobs here and pushing buttons there, and occasionally yelling instructions to Rose. The TARDIS landed roughly, throwing both her occupants to the floor. They both got up quickly, laughing. The Doctor turned to Rose, who was reaching over to a support strut for her demin jacket, now dry for the previous adventure.

"Ready?"

- - - - - -

_**Hope you like the series so far. The whole romance/baby/drastic actions I promised in the summary will come soon. And this was born purely because we never got to go to Felspoon.**_


	3. War on Felspoon

**War on Felspoon**

"Ready?"

"Aren't I always?" Rose asked, tugging on her jacket with a smile on her face.

"Yes. Ooh, new alien planet. Well, for you anyway. I've been to Felspoon before. About, oh, four hundred years ago? Give or take a hundred," the Doctor rambled, bustling about the console. "It was good. I liked it. It was teeming down with rain the whole time, though. Pity that. It never normally rains in Felspoon; it's a very dry planet. Most of the time, anyway. I do have to admit they eat some pretty weird stuff."

Rose just nodded.

"Well, don't just stand there like your mother's slapped you! Let's go!" the Doctor yelled, running to the doors grabbing Rose's hand on the way. Rose rolled her eyes at the sly comment to her mother, but nevertheless allowed the Doctor to lead her outside.

"As long as it's not raining…" Rose said, opening the doors tentatively.

"Oh, for the love of God!" the Doctor said, pushing her out the doors … and into pouring rain.

"I hate you, you know that?" Rose joked, trying in vain to protect her hair from the relentless bad weather. It was so bad that Rose couldn't see five feet in front of her. "What is this, monsoon season? I can't see a thing!"

"You haven't been eating your carrots, Rose Tyler," the Doctor said mockingly, waving a finger in front of her face. "Five a day keeps the doctor away," he sang, before realizing what he'd sang. "Ah, well. Never mind," he said, and Rose laughed, patting him on the arm in what she hoped was a sympathetic way.

"Can we just get out of the rain? You said it was going to be hot! First, rain in London, then rain in Felspoon!" Rose said, sighing.

"We could go back in the TARDIS," the Doctor suggested.

"Nah. You promised me an alien planet, and I'm gonna get an alien planet, even if it kills me!" Rose replied, tongue in cheek.

"There's a building over there," the Doctor said, pointing slightly to his left; all Rose could see was grey. "Let's try that then," He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the building that only came into view when they were less than a metre away from the front door. The Doctor raised a fist and banged hard on the door, loud enough to be heard over the thundering rain.

The door opened a fraction, and a voice rang out. "Why are you outside in that rain?" The door opened a bit more and the Doctor and Rose slipped in the building.

They looked up to find their saviour. The creature was basically human in shape, apart from the fact they had bright blue skin, were bald, and their eyelashes were bright red with red-orange eyes. The room in which they found themselves in was small and rather dingy, with a small lamp lit by something akin to oil.

"I'm Japrax," the creature introduced himself. "And why, may I ask, were two intelligent people such as yourselves outside?"

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose," the Doctor said as Rose nodded, "and we're travellers, just come here by accident. We didn't realise it was raining quite so heavily until we got here. Home's a long way off," he finished, not telling them their home was actually a mile away.

"Well, you may stay here for as long as you need, Doctor and Rose," Japrax said, nodding at the couple.

"Thanks," Rose said gratefully, as Japrax led them into a larger and much brighter room. It was wide and circular in shape, with chairs dotted around a threaded rug. It was very much like a room you would find in your grandmother's house; warm, inviting and rather old-fashioned. A glowing fire at one end of the room was roaring and Rose could already feel herself getting drier.

"Bad weather, isn't it?" The Doctor said, for lack of something else to say. Japrax nodded.

"It's getting worse, though, everyday; the Fellissas are coming."

"Fellissas?" The Doctor asked, intrigued.

Again, Japrax nodded. "They want to overthrow the Felspoon Government. They're vicious, angry things. All carrying weapons, trained to kill. Even the children."

Rose stared at Japrax. "Doesn't sound much different from Earth," she said, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "They hire children soldiers in places like Sudan and the rebels there, they want to overthrow they government, don't they?"

The Doctor smiled. "I suppose you could compare it. But I think the weapons here are much, much more dangerous than the ones in Sudan."

Japrax looked confused. "Where exactly are you two from?"

"Earth," Rose answered, shivering slightly.

"Then the Doctor is right. Earth is a primitive country, with tiny weapons. Fellissa use lasers, mainly. And usually, if they are trying to wipe out a whole country, atomic bombs. They wiped out our neighbouring town, Johhan. My sister and her husband were killed instantly," Japrax said, hanging his head slightly.

"I'm sorry," Rose said, wrapping an arm around the alien in sympathy.

"No matter. It was a long time ago."

"How long, exactly?" The Doctor asked.

"Fifty-four years ago," Japrax said, as Rose itched her nose. The Doctor seemed quite shocked, and Japrax noticed. "Let me make you a warm drink, my friends. I have been rude!"

"What's wrong?" Rose said, looking at the Doctor with watery eyes.

"The war on Felspoon only lasts fifty-four years. We must be coming to the end of it now. We better get going soon," the Doctor whispered. "Historically, there is a massive bloodbath at the end of the war, much worse than in Sudan or any other country on Earth. Half of Felspoon is either killed or serious injured. The Felspoon Government hands over power to the Fellissa – who change their name, which is why I don't recognise it – and it turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to Felspoon. I was hoping to land after the bloodbath, and as per usual, I've landed right in the middle of it. Are you ok?" The ramble came to an abrupt end as the Doctor noticed Rose getting more teary-eyed.

"Yeah I'm –" Rose started, but ended with a massive sneeze.

"Oh god. You've got a cold. I'm so going to die," The Doctor said, looking slightly worried.

"Don't be so ridiculous. A bit of Beechams once we get back to the TARDIS and everything will be fine," Rose said.

"We better get back soon. I don't want to be on this planet much longer if I can help it," the Doctor said, grimly, as Japrax re-entered.

--


	4. A Tearful Parting of the Ways

**A Tearful Parting of the Ways**

**_Spoilers for The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances._**

* * *

Japrax came back through the arch, carrying a tray laden with three glasses and a bowl full of pink grains. He set it down on the table with a small '_thunk_!', and the steaming lime-green liquid inside the teacup swirled around the edges, looking as though it was about to spill but never did.

"Here. Drink this, it will make you feel warmer, it will help," Japrax said, gesturing to the cups.

The Doctor bounded forward eagerly, trying to forget the events in which he had landed himself in. "I'm always up for trying something new!" He said, picking the teacup up and taking a small gulp. He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, then opened them, grinning manically. "This stuff is brilliant!" He picked up the last cup and handed it to Rose, encouraging her to drink.

And so she did. Whatever the lime-green stuff was, it was good. Very good, in fact. Rose's eyes fluttered closed as she hummed, savouring the taste. It seemed to warm her from the inside out, and it was as though she could feel it running through her bloodstream.

"What is this stuff?" Rose asked.

"Linux, apparently," The Doctor answered her. She could tell just by his voice that he was smiling, and knew that she wore a similar expression as well. She snapped her eyes open to find the Doctor beside her, still grinning manically. Japrax was sitting on the sofa, smiling slightly, but also looked slightly confused as to what the two companions found so amazing about this drink.

"We _have_ to get this for the TARDIS," Rose said, turning to him.

"Bulk order!" The Doctor said, looking at Japrax. Rose looked at the alien, startled, having forgotten that he was there at all.

"This is good."

"Thanks," Japrax said in response to Rose's statement. "It is a delicacy on Felspoon, or at least in this south-east region it is."

"Hmm. Sure beats frog's legs, that's for sure."

The Doctor nodded in agreement, whilst Japrax looked confused once more.

"So this war, then," the Doctor started, and Japrax adopted a grave look, "What's been going on recently?"

"Well, the Fellissa have been really very quiet, recently, no killings being reported or anything like that," Japrax said, his voice low. "Usually, over the past ten or so years, killings have been made every day, up to a thousand. Whole villages were burned in hours. But since the beginning of the year six months ago, only five people have been killed. It's the weirdest thing, almost as if they are ended their campaign," The Doctor was shaking his head at this, "But I think they are just toying with us. They are keeping quiet so their battle afterwards will be more dramatic than any other."

The Doctor was silent, knowing it was wrong to tell Japrax that his assumptions would come true, not matter how strong the urge was. Rose looked deeply saddened by what Japrax was saying. The Doctor reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly; it seemed like it was the best thing to do as Rose grasped on to it, squeezing it so hard the Doctor would later, much, much later, swear that she'd broken some bones.

"They estimate that over one million, three hundred and four people have been killed since the start of the war," Japrax said, in a monotonous voice, the sound of someone who had had that figure drilled into them a million times.

The Doctor leaned over and whispered into Rose's ear, "That's a quarter of the population of Felspoon. It's not an overly big planet, about the same size as Australia. But almost 92% of the planet is uninhabitable; either it's dense ice, or water, or mountains. So the population is hugely restricted."

Rose just nodded, even more upset by this.

By now everyone had finished their drinks, and Rose offered to take them back through to the kitchen-type area. Japrax wasn't the most mobile Felspoonian in Caster-56 galaxy and was grateful for Rose's offer of help. Rose was offering just for some time on her own, to reflect.

These people – Felspoonians – had been through a war so brutal it made some others, on other far off worlds, seem rather tame. The Doctor said that half the population would be killed in this massive 'final battle', and the planet had already lost a quarter of their population. Rose struggled to see how the planet would recover with three-quarters of their population gone. Earth wouldn't do so well if they only had one billion people left on their planet instead of six billion. Even though the Doctor said that these rebels would make Felspoon a better place, she couldn't imagine it if they were using weapons of such destruction.

Before she had travelled with the Doctor, Rose had had typical views about war. Sure, she was saddened by it – who wouldn't be? – But she had this view that as long as it didn't come to London, or the UK at all in fact, that she wasn't really gonna do much about it. When she had been younger, much younger, Jackie's friends went out protesting about the Cold War in America and other wars, and still did about the war in Iraq and others. Some students in Rose's class at high school and even her neighbours in the street had protested regularly. Rose had never done, feeling that she didn't need to physically get involved.

Since travelling with the Doctor all those feelings had been turned on their heads. Thinking back, it had started way back with her Ninth Doctor, the first time they met Jack in war-torn Britain 1941. Just seeing her home town being bombed was deeply disturbing. Although she hadn't shown her true feelings at the time, it had been later when she was supposed to be sleeping that she had had time to reflect on what she'd seen. All that time it had been as though war had never affected her, but then suddenly here she was in a city she could call home forty-five years later, it was all too real that it had affected her. Her whole view of war changed after that.

Rose felt a tear slip down her cheek and wiped it away hastily as she heard the door open behind her. The Doctor slipped in, having abandoned his overcoat, and came straight to her and hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Just a bit … upset, that's all. People shouldn't have to live in fear like that."

"I know," the Doctor said, rubbing Rose's back soothingly, "But it'll be all over soon, and the whole world will be better for it."

"But how do they survive, Doctor, with only a quarter of their population? Only a million people on that planet, that's like, less people than in London, how do they cope? Rebuild?"

"They do because they are more suited for a smaller population. Earth is made to have six billion people, more or less. Earth could rapidly lose or gain two billion people and survive. Any more and it would be difficult. Same on Felspoon. They have four million people, thereabouts. So they lose three million people. It's not the whole population, Rose. It's a majority, yes, but they do survive, let me reassure you of it."

Rose nodded, wiping her eyes on the Doctor's shoulder. "Okay. I really hope Japrax survives, he's been through so much."

"Yes, I do hope he survives. Did you just use me as a substitute hankie?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I couldn't be bothered looking."

"You disgust me, Tyler."

"Cheers. We better go back through, he'll be wondering what we're up to."

The Doctor nodded, still looking at his right shoulder in apparent disgust. The exited the kitchen to find that Japrax was at the front door, talking to someone outside in hushed voice. A terrified scream punctured the air.

Japrax turned around to face the Doctor and Rose, pale. Well, as pale as a blue alien could be. "The Fellissas are coming. Heavily armed. We must defend our town," he said, rushing around, collecting weapons. It was obvious that he was getting ready to go out and fight.

"You can't go out there and fight!" The Doctor said, trying to keep his new friend indoors and out of the immediate danger.

"Why not? Everyone else is. I want revenge for my family. They killed them."

The Doctor sighed. "They'll kill you."

"I don't care. I'll do whatever it takes to defend this town."

The Doctor smiled, sadly, then it dropped; his face had the expression of one coming up with an ingenious plan. "I'm coming too," he said, eventually, to Japrax's surprise. Rose gave a gasp of surprise, which turned to a hiss of disapproval.

"Well, the more people, the better a chance we have," Japrax reasoned, and smiled, handing the Doctor a gun. The Doctor grimace at the object in his hands, looking as though he regretted even saying what he had done.

"You cannot go out there and fight, Doctor!" Rose said, her eyes ablaze.

"Why not?" the Doctor said, repeating Japrax's words. "I don't want people to die, Rose, not while I'm here to prevent it."

"But … but … you're against guns, you hate them, why are you all of a sudden going to use one now?!" Rose was well aware that she was pleading somewhat desperately with him and right now she didn't care one iota.

"Because I don't want there to be a massive bloodbath. But it is fixed point in history. I even learnt about this in school, so this is really weird for me to even be here. I want this to be over as quickly as possible because I know that it is imminent and there is nothing no-one, not even me, can do to stop it. All I can do is help, be there, and pray that this is over as quickly as possible," the Doctor finished, loading the gun and holding it, the object looking decidedly out of place in his hands.

Rose fumed silently for a few moments, then tore the gun out of his hands and flung her arms around him in a massive hug. She was clinging to him tightly, desperately, and for once she didn't care. She felt his arms come back around his and he clutched her just as tightly, which reassured her that he was feeling somewhat the same as she was.

"Please, please, don't go," Rose whispered, burying her head in his shoulder. "You're going to die if you do." She was aware that she was crying now.

"I won't die, Rose, I'll regenerate," this made Rose sob even harder, "So I won't ever leave you. And trust me, I actually like this version of me, so I'll do my hardest to keep it. Don't cry, Rose, please. You'll make me cry."

This last statement made Rose giggle slightly, even though it was a watery laugh, it was a laugh nevertheless. The Doctor let Rose go reluctantly, and his expression told her he would much rather stay here with her. Rose's face lit up with an idea, but the Doctor's hand lightly clamped over her mouth, silencing her.

"I know what you're thinking, and before you even dare to ask, you're not fighting. Can you imagine the slap I'd get off your mother if she knew that you'd gone out and fought in one of the bloodiest wars of the century?"

Rose giggled again after the Doctor released her mouth, and wiped her eyes. It was a stupid idea and Rose didn't like the idea of what her mum would do to the Doctor if she ever found out about it.

Japrax burst back through, taking the two by surprise. "Are you ready, Doctor, for they are almost here. The rain had ended, thankfully. It will make for better seeing conditions."

The Doctor nodded. "I'm ready," he said gravely. He gave a last, desperate hug to Rose before following Japrax outside as Rose went to watch from a small window.

The Doctor had barely been gone ten seconds when he reappeared, and scanned the room, his eyes resting on her. He crossed the room in a few long strides and taking Rose's head in his hands, kissed her hard, sending a torrent of emotions through them both, before walking back out onto the street.


	5. That Fateful Death Scene

**That Fateful Death Scene**

**_Warning: character death, violence._**

* * *

Rose watched as converse-clad feet walked out the door, and then she slipped down the wall into a crumpled heap on the rust-coloured rug on the floor. She couldn't actually believe he'd gone out there and fought, and left her here.

She knew, however, deep down inside that he wasn't going to leave her; but although that thought comforted her, she still couldn't shake this thought that was jumping around inside her head that something was going to happen. She shook her head softly – that negative thought wasn't going to help the Doctor in any way.

Crouching low to keep out of the Fellissa guard's sight, Rose peeked over the small windowsill to see a group of men rushing around, the Doctor with them. He was white as snow and all nine hundred years of his existence seemed to emanate from him. Rose had never seen him look so old, even in his previous regeneration, and that fact scared her a little. Okay, more than a little, a lot.

The first gunshot rang out and Rose bent down, hands over her ears.

She had never liked the sound of gunshots.

It went back to her childhood, back to the Estate – when she was about twelve or thirteen, a sixteen-year-old boy had been shot dead in the Estate. Rose had been part of the gang that the boy had hung around with. Luckily for her, however, her mother had grounded her that night and she wasn't at the scene. If she had been, she would have been witness to his murder – maybe even murdered herself. But she had heard the gunshots, in her flat with her mother beside her, and they had gone out into the street like everyone else to see what exactly had caused it. Little did they know it was the infamous Powell Estate Gang being done over by the gang from Fencewell Estate. Rose had almost collapsed when she heard the news that Jimmy Stone's best friend Iain had been shot dead.

Another gunshot was fired and it brought Rose back to the present.

She looked again, still trying to remain out of sight, but couldn't help the gasp that emitted from her mouth as she saw bodies already laid strewn across the wet street. From her restricted position she tried to see the Doctor, fearing he was one of the bodies, but eventually she saw him crouched behind a sheet of metal, metal that was obviously being used for concealment.

She looked to her left and saw what was obviously the Fellissas. They were like Japrax, bright blue skin with red eyelashes, but some of them had red hair as well. They looked nothing short of menacing and just by looking at them Rose felt fear grip her heart. She had no idea how these Felspoonians would do as rulers – they looked more like Dictators to her, and not good ones at that – and she felt, not for the first time in her short life, like she definitely, definitely involved in this war.

* * *

The Doctor's stomach clenched as another bullet whizzed past his ear. Japrax had been wrong and the Fellissas had come armed to the teeth with both laser guns and bullet guns, as well as the atomic bombs and grenades Japrax had said they would. The Fellissa had already bombed a couple of houses further up in the street and right now he'd never been more concerned for Rose. He could see her blonde head peeping over the windowsill every so often and he was itching to run to her, to hold her, to keep her safe from the bloody battle.

At Japrax's signal, he reached out from behind his metal sheet and fired two bullets: both of them missed their targets.

Japrax hit one of his targets and the look of elation on his face as his target fell made the Doctor's stomach sick.

He did not want to be here. He wanted to be in the TARDIS, with Rose, talking about anything and everything. Hell, he'd even rather be at Jackie's, being forced to watch Eastenders; the best thing about it being the conversations that were allowed afterwards, or during the advert breaks. No talking during Eastenders, or Coronation Street.

Here, he could barely hear himself think. The sound of gunshots, laser beams and screaming filled the air so much so that for a moment, for a very brief moment, the Doctor thought he was back in the Time War, against Daleks; pure hatred was apparent on his face until he opened his eyes, and the look vanished as he realised that he wasn't on Gallifrey, he was on Felspoon, and he wasn't fighting Daleks, he was fighting Fellissas.

Again, he glanced over at Japrax's home to see Rose up and looking at the scene in front of her, a look of disgust and horror on her face. He grimaced at the sight, and turned back to the event in hand; the more he looked at her, the stronger the urge was to thrown down his gun, grab Rose's hand and run as fast as they could to the TARDIS and fly away from here, and let events take their course. But he knew that the second he had landed he had become part of events, part of the timeline, and that he had to stay.

The Doctor shook his head, and looked forwards. Japrax hadn't given any signal yet. The Doctor thought back to before. He knew that he given that kiss in desperation and longing and hadn't meant to do that. Of course, he'd been feeling these feelings for a long time – since the Android had shot her on the Gamestation, way back in 200100, and way back in his Ninth body. But he knew that he couldn't take things further that it would only lead into heartbreak for both her and him. She wouldn't last forever. She had given him her forever, but her forever was very different from his forever. He had given her his forever, only she wouldn't be around to see it.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

Japrax was shouting on him, signalling. Taking a deep breath, the Doctor turned around and opened fire on the Fellissas.

* * *

Rose couldn't watch anymore.

She pressed her back against the wall, letting her body slide down it like liquid. Her hands cupped her mouth as violent sobs wracked her body, making her shake. Men – aliens out there were dying and the screams echoed off the walls, ringing in her ears.

She couldn't see out the window for the blood splattered on them.

She didn't know if the Doctor was one of those bodies lying out there, bullet wounds glowing with bright blood. They were lying across the street, chucked out the way once dead, of no use to the people still fighting.

They littered the street and were treated like litter.

The thought angered Rose. If the Doctor was dead – no, he couldn't be, please don't let him be – then no-one had the right to treat him like litter. The amount of times he's saved the universe now, saved everyone out there, and they would toss him away like he didn't matter anything in the universe. Well, he mattered the universe to her, and she would do her damn best to save him.

She had gotten to her feet, about to go out onto the street, when the force of the house next door exploding knocked her flying.

She hit the wall with a tremendous amount of force, her head flying back and hitting the windowsill. Her head pounded with the pain and Rose's head went to her head, returning with blood smeared on them.

The room was spinning widely and Rose became nauseous – she prayed the room would stop whirling in and out of focus so she could concentrate. She moaned with the pain, closing her eyes against the room which was doing a damn good impression of a Watlzer at the fairground.

She heard the door being kicked in and shut up. People entered the house. She crawled a few meters right to try and stay out of sight.

She could hear the guards muttered to each other, and they each trawled through rooms, looking for anything valuable. The one in the living room was pudgy, small and had red hair that was thinning on top. He was grabbing everything and anything of money, before coming over to where Rose was hiding. He grabbed a metal box above Rose's head, before spotting her.

"Hello, lady. Trying to stay out of sight, are you?"

He laughed evilly, and shouted on his mates, who came and took one look at Rose before laughing. They looked like they had just won a triple rollover on the lottery.

The room was still spinning and Rose had trouble focusing; she closed her eyes, fearful she would be sick if she kept them open any longer. She felt two arms grab her painfully under the armpits and haul her upwards, dragging her out of the house, not paying attention as Rose's body banging of doorframes and ornaments.

When they reached outside, Rose once again opened her eyes to see the Doctor straining to get to her, but being physically restrained by four Felspoonians. He was shouting at them loudly, but Rose couldn't hear over the screaming. The battle seemed to have stopped, and everyone was looking at the prisoners. The Fellissa soldiers threw her beside the other prisoners, who were standing upright against a metal sheet. A man and a woman bent down to help her up. She stood and waited for her fate to arrive.

* * *

The Doctor was fuming.

The Fellissa soldiers were looting and then blowing up Felspoonians' homes. The Doctor watched from his hiding place in anguish as they set of a grenade in the house next door to Japrax's. Luckily it didn't blow up Japrax's home, but four soldiers went into Japrax's house.

The Doctor had never felt more terror in his life.

Soon enough, they dragged Rose out of the house, who had her eyes closed and looked injured; there were smears of blood on her hands and head. They had hurt her.

A monster of rage reared its head inside him, and he wanted to rip the two soldiers who were with her apart, to take her back to the TARDIS and assess her injuries, to make her safe again. He desperately wanted to kill the people who had hurt her.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet to carry out these actions; but four Felspoonian soldiers held him back, saying he'd get killed.

"I don't care, I don't care, they hurt her, blood ... kill them, I want to kill them!" he shouted, straining against the soldiers who held him in place. They four were burly and muscular, and the Doctor's skinny-as-paper body had no chance against them. But it didn't stop him trying.

"They hurt Rose … I have to go, let me go, let me go, I don't care, I'll die, I don't care …"

The Doctor watched in horror as Rose was thrown beside the other five prisoners, and the woman and the man beside her helped her on her feet. She stood with a defiant look on her face.

Five Fellissas stood in front of them. "You are our prisoners and we shall do whatever we like with you!" One of them demanded, and the other Fellissas cheered this statement. "What shall we do?" He addressed the other Fellissas.

"Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!"

"Fine, we shall kill them!" The head Fellissa agreed. The Doctor and other Felspoonians screamed, pleading, but the Fellissas acted deaf. The Doctor was still be restrained from running to Rose. Rose looked over at him desperately, her mouth moving in the single word.

"_Goodbye."_

"NNNNOOOOOOO!" The Doctor screamed as five bullets were shot and five targets were hit. The four Felspoonians restraining the Doctor were pulled away as the Doctor ran to Rose, who was slumped on the ground, and single bullet wound in the middle of her chest. Bright, crimson blood was spreading like a fan over her body but the Doctor didn't care as he clutched her to him, pleading with her.

"R-Rose? Please don't be dead, we can go to the TARDIS, I can save y-you, p-please Rose just breathe, baby just breathe for me, please, you can't be dead, please!" The Doctor managed to croak out, lightly shaking her. He didn't react to the hand on his shoulder.

"I'm terribly sorry, Doctor, for your loss. Thank you for helping us. Go, grieve. You must not fight any longer," Japrax whispered.

The Doctor registered the words, and bend down to pick Rose up ever-so-gently, the blood still dripping form her wound. The fighting continued, raging behind him but the Doctor walked on, screams and shouts and gunshots stabbed the air around him but the Doctor ignored them, his eyes on the dead woman lying in his arms. His tears of despair fell thick and fast, landing on Rose's tee-shirt than was stained crimson with her own blood. The Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS, unable to comprehend a future without his Rose there to show him the way.


	6. Half Human, Half Time Lord

**Half-Human, Half-Time Lord, Hundredth-Vortex**

The Doctor laid Rose's body down on the infirmary bed just as gently as he had picked it up. Her entire torso was stained crimson with blood, her touch cold, her face taking on a greyish tinge.

The Doctor slid down the wall, tears running freely down his face. He made no move to wipe them away. Leaning his head back against the wall the guilt ate away at him, having his insides for breakfast. He bumped off the corner of the wall and winced; apparently the TARDIS had taken it upon herself to transport them into the Vortex, out of further harm's way.

Even though it was hard to tell how much more harm they could do. It was harder to comprehend that Rose was dead. Each time he thought it might be a dream, a wonderful nightmare, his eyes were drawn to the body on the bed and the all too real pain that was coursing through his body reminded him that it wasn't a nightmare, it was reality. Brutal, harsh, unfair reality.

The Doctor screamed through his tears, kicking out at the wall in frustration. All the came out of it was a sore foot, and as he rubbed it, remembered the last time he had done that against the console, when Mickey was around.

"_Did that help?"_

"_No."_

"_Did that hurt?"_

"_Yes. Ow."_

It seemed like a lifetime ago, in a gingerbread house land … where Jackie was killed and her father alive …

Jackie. What was Jackie going to do? He'd killed her daughter, her one and only child … right now, however, he was too busy grieving for her said daughter to be bothered too much as to what she would do to him when he returned her daughter's body to her. The Doctor sat with his head in his head for what seemed like eons but was only actually a few minutes.

"_Doctor."_

The Time Lord swatted the air around him as if chasing off an irksome fly.

"_Doctor. For god sake, listen to me."_

"TARDIS," The Doctor ground out, "Now is not the time."

"_You can bring Rose back."_

"What?" The Doctor said, sitting up a little straighter.

"_I know a way you can bring Rose back to life."_

The Doctor jumped to his feet, all signs of depression gone. His face was alight with hope and love, and he looked nine hundred years younger. "How?"

The TARDIS proceeded to explain to him the procedure that he would have to do in order to bring Rose back to life. It was highly complicated, but he could do it – _would_ do it.

"_There's just one problem …" _The TARDIS said.

"What? She would be alive and immortal. She would never die; she would never leave my side again. What would be the problem?" The Doctor was ecstatic and was bounding around the room, getting everything ready.

"_What about Jackie?"_

Those three words stopped the Doctor dead. Or, at least, the name did. What would Jackie say when she found out he'd made her daughter alien? Or, more drastically, what would she say when she found out he'd taken his daughter to an alien planet which lead to her death? He made his mind up in three seconds flat.

"She'd rather she was alive and half-alien than dead," The Doctor reasoned, and got everything together for this long and complicated resurrection. He calmed himself down; he was shaking with excitement, hope and love, his need for this to work.

The Doctor took one last deep breath, and began the procedure.

* * *

There was someone drilling inside her head.

Rose was sure of it. That was the only explanation for the pain. Her eyes fluttered open then winced at the brightness of the lights. She recognised where she was. TARDIS Infirmary.

How was she here? Last thing she remembered was someone laughing evilly after a bullet was lodged in her chest. The last thing she remembered was seeing an agonised Doctor running towards her, each breath she was taking more difficult than the last. Then the blackness, the never ending black …

A small stab of pain in her arm brought her attention to the drip that was currently lodged in her vein. Rose frowned, and looked upwards; it was connected to a bag of blood hanging slightly to the left of her head, but it wasn't like any other blood Rose had seen before. It almost seemed to shimmer, slightly, even though Rose knew that was impossible.

"Rose," a voice called out, softly, as if it wasn't sure of itself.

"Hey, Doctor," Rose called, trying to sit up. The Doctor rushed towards her and gently pushed her shoulder, forcing her to remain laid down. She looked up into his face and almost gasped – it was completely ashen.

"How are you?" He asked, still using that soft voice Rose had never really heard him use before.

"Fine, I think. My chest is a bit stiff, though – oh my god, didn't I get shot?" Rose exclaimed, her voice turning from slightly whiny to disbelief as she registered what had happened.

The Doctor closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to Rose. "You were shot. You died, Rose."

"Very funny. Just unconscious, was I? I never really d-died, did I?" Roe stuttered, paling to white when she realised the Doctor wasn't joking.

"Yes, you did die. For about fifteen minutes. But, I managed to … well … bring you back," The Doctor said, scratching behind his ear in self-doubt. "Only … you aren't exactly … you, anymore."

"What do you mean, I'm not exactly me? Did you give me a personality transplant or somethin', 'cause I feel like me …"

The Doctor laughed softly. "Nah, not quite," He said. "Do you remember what happened on the Gamestation, Rose?" His voice was getting less soft. Not that it was getting harsh, just that he was reading bits of paper while talking to her. Obviously he was satisfied with what he was reading as colour was appearing back in his face.

"No, but you told me. I opened the heart of the TARDIS and looked into it, absorbing the Vortex, and brought Jack back to life permanently."

"Yeah. Well, because of that absorbing the Vortex you did, you still had a fragment of the Vortex floating around in your bloodstream. I didn't detect it because was so small, but the TARDIS did. So, to save myself – as any respecting man would do – from a imminent Jackie Tyler slapathon, I injected some of my DNA into your heart, permanently. This little bit of Vortex recognised the Time Lord DNA in your body and attached then manifested itself, making you become half Time Lord."

"So … I'm half human, half Time Lord?"

"Yeah. Your body had to recover to make itself run as a Time Lady, so it healed your bullet wound. Oh, and your cold will be gone, as well," The Doctor grinned at her, his face falling as he realised that Rose wasn't smiling.

A heavy silence fell over them for a couple of moments as Rose's mind processed this information.

"So … will I be able to, like, calculate things in one second flat and know everything about everything then?" Rose's voice broke the silence.

The Doctor let himself grin slightly. "That's the fantastic thing, Rose. No, you won't. That's the half-human part of you. The only thing that'll change is that … erm … you kinda, well, can't die."

"Can't die? Like Jack?"

"No, not like Jack, no no no!" The Doctor responded, frowning. You'll die, eventually … when I die. Because you have my DNA inside you for life, you're now tied to me. I'm not able to regenerate anymore, for example. Because we have the Vortex running through our veins we'll just patch ourselves up as we go. We'll live for … oh, another few centuries. At the very least."

"I'm … tied to you? I won't be able to die unless you die?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that," The Doctor said sheepishly, under the impression that Rose wasn't too happy with this new predicament. "I thought that Jackie would rather her daughter be half-alien than dead."

Rose fell silent, before sitting up, the Doctor keeping a watchful eye on her. "Can this thing come out?" Rose asked, pointing to the drip.

"I think so, yeah," The Doctor replied, busying himself as he gently extracted the needle from Rose's arm, and gave her a plaster to stop the bleeding. "Unless you want me to put it on?" The Doctor asked after Rose stared at it like it was a spare part of the TARDIS. "What are you, five years old?" He grumbled fondly, putting away equipment as Rose stuck the plaster on her arm.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he stood in front of her, a worried expression on his face. She was sitting with her hand hanging down, her fingers twisted in her lap.

Rose looked up at his face, tears swimming in her eyes as she launched herself at him as best she could do.

"Whoa!" The Doctor gasped, trying to balance himself as Rose wrapped her legs around his waist. "Not that I don't appreciate the random hugging and all, but, why?"

"I can never die? Really?" Rose mumbled, her face pressed into the Doctor's shoulder.

"Really."

Rose pulled back, grinned widely. "They keep trying to split us up, but they never ever will," She said, repeating the words she had said just days ago.

The Doctor laughed. "They sure can't now!"

"So, I can really be here forever, now, can't I?" Rose said, releasing herself from the Doctor's embrace and sitting, once again, on the Infirmary Bed.

"Yep! You can never, ever leave! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!" The Doctor said, laughing evilly.

Rose stuck out her tongue. "So what am I? Half-Time Lord?"

"We're half-human, half-Time Lord, hundredth-Vortex."

"Whoa," Rose said, shaking her head.

The Doctor laughed. "Whoa, is right." He smiled as he brought Rose into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alive, Rose," He said, savouring the feel of her against him even though she would still be there for many, many years to come.

"I'm glad I'm alive to," Rose said, pulling out of his hug, kissing his cheek, and returning the hug. "Better with two, isn't it?"

* * *


	7. Are You Ready For Luurve?

**Are You Ready For Luurve?**

**_i'm really, really, really sorry for my absence. My computer got Trogens. x100,000. LOL. But I got my own laptop for Christmas, wheyhey! So I don't have to rely on a computer who's favourite thing to do is shut down when you're in the middle of writing something. Good times. This is not the last chapter of the fic, btw. _**

**_

* * *

_**

"I really, really, really have a bad feeling about this. Can't we leave it? Please, Rosie, pretty please with a banana on top!"

Rose rolled her eyes at the nine hundred-year-old alien who was trying to worm his way out of visiting her mother. She did have to stifle a laugh, though, when he substituted 'cherry' for 'banana'. Bananas on the brain, that alien. She didn't want him knowing that she thought that was funny – he'd use big, long, complicated words to twist it and get out of visiting Jackie – so she kept a straight face.

"No for the final time, Doctor. We have to tell her what happened."

"Can't we just leave it? She'll never know."

"Oh, yeah, that's right; my own mother won't notice me not ageing," Rose said sarcastically. "You know, when I'm fifty, she'll ask me what aging cream I use because I still look like a twenty-year-old. I'm sure that'll happen."

"Might do," The Doctor argues, sticking his tongue out at his companion.

"My mother may sometimes be a bit slow," Rose said, as the Doctor snorted, "But she will notice I'm not aging. She notices everything with me; I'm her only child, for god's sake!" Rose threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and flopped down on the captain's chair.

The Doctor sighed deeply. He knew that she was right – Jackie would notice a hair out of place on Rose's head – and judging from the smirk on Rose's face, she did, too. "Fine. Whatever," He said, crossing his arms over his chest grumpily.

Rose laughed gleefully. "I'm so gonna enjoy watching you explain to her that her daughter isn't human ..."

The look on the Doctor's face was priceless – a mixture of horror, fear, and anxiety. Rose burst out laughing at the sight, especially when the Doctor unconsciously started rubbing his cheek. "I'm not explaining, you can," he said, pointing at Rose.

"Yeah, because I really understand what happened."

"You do! I explained it all."

"And used some pretty big, intelligent words in the process. Words of advice – don't do that when you're explaining to Mum, you'll just get a slap." Rose's attitude was nonchalant, which was something the Doctor certainly wasn't. "You gonna set these coordinates then, or shall I?"

"That would be a better threat, Tyler, if you could set the coordinates."

"That's your fault; you promised to teach me, and you never have."

"Don't worry, I will. Eventually. We have literally a few eternities anyway, and who knows how long they are? Don't go stressing, I'll do it. Now, Powell Estate, here we come!"

Rose giggled. She'd had a week and a bit to get used to being Half-human, half-Time Lord and a hundredth-Vortex. She could honestly say she had never been upset by this whole arrangement. More to the point, she was elated – she could stay with the Doctor forever, have this fantastic life, Partners in Crime fighting for universal justice for all. Now they were both recovered from the fighting on Felspoon – Rose's chest was still a little tight, but it only really bothered her when she ran for a long period of time. The Doctor had predicted that she'd be fully recovered within the week. The only lasting effect was the both Rose and the Doctor were both put off ever returning to Felspoon. Rose had been shocked at the little amount of time she needed to recover, and the Doctor had said that was the Vortex's work; the hundredth of Vortex in her blood would heal her extra fast. Simple cuts would take hours to heal instead of days.

"Rose! Grab on to the thingy-ma-jig and turn it left!" The Doctor's voice – and outrageous hand gestures – broke her train of thought.

"Gotcha."

"Not that left, this left!"

"How many lefts have you got?" Rose asked, amused, as she turned the glittery ball to the right that was the Doctor's 'other left'.

"A few," The Doctor joked, running around pulling levers and flicking switches, yelling instructions to Rose across the console.

The TARDIS landed jerkily, throwing both its occupants to the ground.

The Doctor managed to get to his feet first, and offered his hand to Rose, who took it gratefully. Rose smiled up at him; she could tell he was mentally bracing himself for the hell her mother was going to give him for making her alien.

"Come on, let's go. Allonsy! Go grab your washing – I don't know why you get your mother do to your washing, there is a washing machine on board you know – the quicker we get this over with the better."

Rose scowled. "She likes doing my washing."

"Why?" The Doctor was genuinely curious – why would anyone like doing washing?

"Makes her feel like she's still involved with my life, considering I've got you and the TARDIS now and I'm away eleven months out of the twelve on planets she can barely pronounce."

"Pah. You can hardly pronounce them either, Miss Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"I so can! I managed to pronounce Raxacoraco ... wait, I can do it! Raxicoricofally ... whatever. I'm away to get my washing."

The Doctor just laughed.

* * *

"Are you ready? Are you ready for luuurve?" The Doctor sang as he and Rose exited the TARDIS, a full bag of washing in Rose's hand. Her other hand was tightly clasped in the Doctor's.

"Now's not really the time, so why don't we just go to Mum's before the whole estate comes out to see who's killing the cat?" Rose asked, tugging on the Doctor's hand and determinedly dragged him towards her Mum's flat. Rose realised she hadn't called the Powell Estate home for a good while – home was the small blue box parked a few meters from the stairs to the flat.

"...and I won, Rose, me! I won The X Factor 2096! I couldn't believe it, really, I mean I sang that Elton John song – ooh, that rhymes – and I didn't think I did so well, but the judges and viewers did! I abandoned the recording contract though. All the girls throwing themselves at my feet was nice, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't really the glitz and glamour lifestyle I'd read in the 'what to expect if you win' brochure at my auditions. Too much remaining on one planet," The Doctor rambled – he had obviously started a conversation whilst Rose had been daydreaming.

"Sure, Doctor, sure you did," Rose said, amused, and rubbed his arm in a sympathetic way.

"I'm allowed to dream anything I like!" The Doctor argued, and Rose nodded, enlightened as to why the Doctor was suddenly chattering on about The X Factor 2096.

"You should tell Mum that, she'd get a good laugh out of it."

"Thanks, that's just what I need; I go on the most ruthless TV show until the Gamestation starts broadcasting and Jackie Tyler's a judge. I'd get booted off on the first week. Even if I sang well she'd rig the voting lines to make sure I don't get through."

Rose rolled her eyes, and was thankful that they'd reached Jackie's flat. Rose reached her hand up the ring the doorbell; but before she could, though, the door flung open and an entirely-too-joyous looking Jackie stood there, arms already open for her daughter. The Doctor silently reached an arm around Rose to relieve her of her washing bag, noting that Jackie had dyed her hair again. If it got any blonder he'd need sunglasses. The Doctor stifled a chuckle at that thought, noting that he probably shouldn't mention it in front of either Tyler.

"Come on in already, you'll catch your death standin' out there, it's November after all." Jackie's tone was warm as she pulled her daughter into the flat, leaving the Doctor standing there with Rose's washing bag. At least she'd had the decency to leave the door open and not slam it in his face.

"So, how are ya, love? You never told me you were comin', I would have put your favourite tea on ... hold on two minutes, sweetheart, I go make us some tea. Does nibs over there drink tea?"

"You know fine well he does, Mum," Rose said, as she settled himself beside the Doctor on the sofa. He was restlessly flicking through TV channels, something he only ever did when nervous, excited or anxious.

"Bloody thing doesn't have Sky+ ..." The Doctor mumbled, as Rose laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'll be over soon, okay? Just do it, yeah, and don't worry. I'll intervene before she kills you. Because then I'd die too, and she wouldn't like that," Rose said soothingly, pressing an encouraging kiss to his cheek.

"So she can torture me all she likes, but you'll stop her before she kills me, only because it'll mean you die as well?"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right," she joked, but refrained from saying anything more as Jackie wandered back through to the sitting room, armed with three mugs of steaming tea and a plate of biscuits.

"So, how are ya then, darlin'?" Jackie asked Rose while switching off the TV, ignoring the Doctor's protests that he was getting into _Deal or No Deal_.

"Fine, Mum. Never been better," Rose said, looking at the Doctor. "How are you? Sorry we never phoned to say we were coming, it was all a bit spur-of-the-moment ..."

"No worries darlin', as long as your whole and well," Jackie said, as Rose blushed, "and don't get crumbs on my carpet, I've just done the hooverin'," Jackie added as a side point to the Doctor, who'd slyly picked up a biscuit, trying to remain out of sight.

"So, whatcha been doin'? Betcha got some stories for me!" Jackie laughed, but was stopped short as Rose and the Doctor paled, suddenly quiet and nervous, while (at least in Rose's case) they had been upbeat and chatty when they first came in. "What's happened?" Jackie asked, putting her cup down and looking at the Doctor. "What 'ave you done now?"

Rose took one look at the Doctor, who was ashen and rigid, and decided to start from him. "Mum, something happened, last place we went to."

"What happened? What did 'e do?"

"Mum, could you please not interrupt, just 'til we get this finished because it's hard for both of us," Rose said gently. Jackie looked shocked that Rose had basically told her to shut up, but did so anyway.

"Anyway, we went to this alien planet, only we didn't know it was in the middle of a war," Rose said, and Jackie's mouth vanished into thin line. "And the Doctor helped fight this war ..."

Jackie's face lost the remainder of its colour. "You left my daughter alone in the middle of a war? What were you thinkin' even takin' her there?" Jackie interrupted, as the Doctor leaned back towards Rose for some kind of protection but nevertheless remained in his seat, not saying a word.

"Mum, calm down. Right, okay, so the Doctor was away fighting, all I could hear was gunshots, it was horrible. Anyway," Rose continued, but sped it up as she could hear the Doctor's laboured breathing beside her – he was obviously getting more nervous the more she drew it out. "They shot me, Mum," Rose said bluntly, as Jackie registered what she'd just said.

"YOU GOT SHOT?" Jackie all but bellowed, jumping to her feet. "This is all 'is fault, ya shouldn't be goin' away with 'im," She pointed at the Doctor, who immediately turned in his seat to face her.

"She died for fifteen minutes, Jackie," He said, using the same soft voice he had put on when Rose had first woken up from the procedure.

"She DIED?" Jackie said, near hysterical. "Now could she 'ave died, she's sittin' in my front room for God's sake!" Jackie had grabbed a large brown bag – God knows where she got that from – and was breathing into it loudly.

"She died for fifteen minutes, Jackie. I managed to bring her back, but at a price."

Jackie stopped hyperventilating at the Doctor's voice. It was low and sad, and reminded her of his other body, before he'd changed, back when he was brooding and gloomy and 'emo' (as Mickey had called him).

"What do you mean, at a price?" Jackie asked, her eyes narrowed into little slits.

"I had to inject some Time Lord DNA into her heart. So it manifested itself and in the process of creating a new Time Lord it healed her," the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows at Jackie as if to say 'please believe me.' He didn't bother mentioning the Vortex – much more hassle than it's worth.

Jackie found it hard to. "So does that mean my daughter is an alien?"

The Doctor smiled; Jackie, like Rose, wasn't nearly as stupid as people first thought. "Kinda. She's half-human, half-Time Lord. Please don't kill me, Jackie. I thought you, like me, would rather see Rose half-Time Lord than dead."

For a moment, Jackie looked like she was going to throttle the Doctor personally, before hearing his last statement. She was silent for a minute, the only sound ion the room being the three occupants' breathing and the steady 'tick, tock' of the clock on the mantelpiece.

"So will she be like you, fountain of all knowledge an' that? Spurting random facts left right and centre? Changin' her face?" Jackie sobbed as Rose rushed to her mother, almost crying herself.

"Nothing will be different Mum, except I can't die," Rose said.

"You ... can't die?" Jackie stuttered through her tears, looking up at Rose, who was perched on the arm of her mother's chair, her arms around her.

Rose nodded. "Unless I like, contract an alien illness or get seriously, seriously injured, I can't die."

"But ... if you don't get ill or get seriously hurt, what will you look like in a million years? Oh, my god, you'll live for a million years?"

'_At least_,' Rose though, but nodded to her mother's statement. "I won't age. Like the Doctor. He stays exactly the same even though he's nine hundred years old."

"You're nine hundred years old?" Jackie said, her gaze shifting from Rose to the Doctor. The Doctor nodded.

"Thereabouts. Nine hundred and three, I think. I don't tend to have birthdays. They get old after you pass four hundred."

Jackie laughed tearfully. "You're older than me," She said.

"Yep," The Doctor said, popping the 'p'. Jackie was still crying, though, so he refrained from saying anything else while Rose talked to her mother quietly, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine.

"So you're still goin' to go away with 'im then?" Jackie asked Rose.

Rose nodded. "Yeah," she breathed, and looked at her mother. "I can live forever, Mum. There's so many things I wanna see, and now I have the time to. We don't have to cram everything in because I've only got so many years 'til I'm dribbling and knitting sweaters. I'm twenty years old, forever."

Jackie looked at Rose and found something she'd never thought she'd see. Pure elation. Rose looked alive when she talked about travelling, and now even Jackie could see the benefits of what the Doctor had done. They were tied together now, anyway. It was only a matter of time; those two were joined at the hip normally. Now, thought ... they could be together forever, and Jackie could plainly see how much that meant to them.

Jackie rose out of her chair and walked over to the Doctor, who cowered. "Please don't kill me, Jackie ..." He said, his hands coming up in front of his face.

Jackie wrenched his upright out of his seat and proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of him. "I'm not goin' to kill ya, stupid alien. And yeah, I would rather my daughter was half-alien than dead," Jackie added in a whisper so Rose couldn't hear. The Doctor laughed quietly and returned to the hug, Rose looking on bemused. The Doctor raised her eyebrows at Rose and she giggled.

Jackie let him go and wiped her eyes. "Well, that is certainly somethin' I didn't expect to hear about!"

All three laughed, and Jackie bent down to pick up the three empty cups. "More tea, I think," she said, and walked through to the kitchen.

Rose immediately gave the Doctor a hug. "I think she took it okay," she said, resting her head on his chest contently.

"Apart from the hyperventilating and the shouting and bellowing, I think she took it okay, too," The Doctor replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, which was tucked under his chin.

The clock chimed seven. "I do hope you're ready, Doctor," Rose said, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Why?" The Doctor asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"It's Monday night. There's Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Eastenders, then Coronation Street again."

"Urgh," The Doctor groaned, before flopping down on the sofa, Rose snuggled into his side. Jackie came wandering through two seconds later.

"Oh, Emmerdale!" She exclaimed, turning on the TV.

"It's going to be a long night, isn't it?" The Doctor asked Rose.

"Yep. And you know what she's like – she'll want us to stay overnight as well."

The Doctor didn't have a reply to that, but groped inside his suit pocket, found his TARDIS key, and clutched onto it tightly.


	8. The Doctor's in the House!

**The Doctor's in the House!**

_**well, here it is, the eighth chapter! Special thanks go to my shiny new beta, HiddenInTheTardis =) thank you so much, you're awesome!**_

* * *

"I swear your mother is going to be the death of me someday."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I hardly doubt that. Mum wouldn't kill anyone. And if today was anything to go by, I'd say she's actually starting to like you."

The Doctor looked disgusted at the thought. Rose laughed.

"Shh! You're going to wake your mother up," The Doctor whispered, pressing a finger to Rose's lips.

"Oops," Rose breathed, and looked at the door to Jackie's bedroom – they both waited until they could hear Jackie's light snoring before they breathed a sigh of relief.

As Rose had predicated, Jackie had guilt-tripped the two into staying overnight. With day and night-times twisted in the TARDIS, the two had just finished breakfast when they had arrived at Jackie's at six in the evening. So, being wide awake, the pair had taken refuge on the sofa, and tried not to wake Jackie up.

"I think we're very lucky Jackie's a deep sleeper."

Rose nodded against his chest. "When I was around sixteen, seventeen, it was a godsend for sneaking into the house at three in the morning."

The Doctor laughed silently; Rose felt it rather than heard it. She glanced at the clock; the red neon numbers reading out 02:43am. The Doctor was lying across the sofa, taking up a full three-seater by himself. His coat was draped across a dining room chair, and his jacket, tie and Converse were dumped by the sofa somewhere. Rose was lying with her head resting on his chest, her shoes somewhere beside the Doctor's, and her demin jacket was intermingled with his.

The Doctor was toying with a strand of Rose's hair, his eyes barely registering her silhouette through the darkness. His eyes decided to take their own sweet time to adjust to the dark.

"So where are we gonna go after we leave here?" Rose asked.

"Urgh. I hate it when you ask me that. I don't know. We'll push a random button on the TARDIS and wee! Off we go into time and space."

Rose laughed, remembering the last time they had said that. The Doctor raised his hand and Rose silently high-fived it. Jack had been there, too. It had pissed Mickey off no end. Rose felt a wash of sadness for the loss of her former boyfriend and her other friend. The Doctor was obviously feeling similarly, as he wrapped his arms tighter around Rose, both giving and taking comfort.

"We could go find Jack, if you want," The Doctor said, looking down at Rose, his eyes now fully adjusted.

Rose gasped – a reaction the Doctor had not expected. "You told me he was dead!" she whispered, trying not to shout as she craned her head around to glare at him.

"Did I? Sorry ... maybe it was just a bad time to say what really happened!" The Doctor protested, looking down at Rose with a very innocent expression. "I told you what happened on the Gamestation, right?"

"All except that bit," Rose spat, and punched his shoulder. The Doctor let out a high-pitched yelp that caused them both to glance at Jackie's door, breathing stopped.

"Right, I think you should shut up now before you wake Mum up and World War Three breaks out."

"Your fault, you shouldn't have hit me!"

"You shouldn't have lied!"

"I never lied!" The Doctor argued indignantly. "I just kept certain facts to myself until it was the right time and forgot I had not told you these certain facts."

Rose scowled in the darkness, not sure if he could see or not.

"Now, turn that frown upside down, Rosie!" The Doctor chimed, albeit quietly. Apparently, he could see her frown.

"We'll go refuel and then we'll go find Jack then. I haven't seen him since I regenerated. I wonder what he'll think? Will he like skinny me, or go all 'Rose' on me and want me to change back to big ears?"

"Hey!" Rose whispered, poking him lightly in the chest. "Only a first, you know. Now I'd choose this non-emo version of you over emo dumbo," she added with a cheeky smile.

"Really?"

"Really." Rose's word was muffled by a yawn.

"Are you getting tired?" The Doctor asked, looking down at her affectionately.

"No." Rose yawned again. She looked at the clock – 04:12am. "OK. Maybe slightly."

"Slightly? I'd say you're halfway to sleepland," The Doctor said, tapping Rose's nose lightly. Her eyes were closed and he could tell that she was already half-asleep.

"Night, Rose. Or should I say 'morning'?"

"Night, Doctor."

About ten minutes later Rose was breathing lightly and evenly, clearly in a deep sleep. The Doctor realised he probably should have moved her before she fell asleep – but he didn't, so he was trapped under her. He didn't have the heart to wake her up to move her to her bed. After he stared at the ceiling for five minutes, played I-spy with himself and sang 'eight million green bottles sitting on a wall' (he got down to seven million, nine hundred and ninety three thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine) he realised that there was nothing he could do to pass the time.

So he did the only thing he could do – he switched off his mind and fell asleep, praying that either he or Rose would wake up before Jackie. If she caught them like this, it wouldn't be pretty.

* * *

Bright sunlight filtered through the thin white curtains, and showered the room with light. The occupant in the bed wiggled, not particularly liking this light which was intruding on her sleep. Jackie turned around, eye squinting against the light to read the time on the clock – 09:02am. She'd wanted to sleep in a little longer than that, and was preparing to snuggle down again for a few extra hours of sleep when she remembered she had guests. Rose and the Doctor had stayed overnight, so she was planning to make them breakfast. The Doctor – who would already be up – never seemed to sleep anyway, so there would at least be some company, no matter who it was, until Rose got up sometime later.

Jackie got dressed quickly, and made sure she was presentable before going out the door into the living room – and stopped dead. If she had been holding anything, it would have hit the floor.

On her sofa lay Rose and the Doctor, both deeply asleep. The Doctor was laying spread out over the three seater, his feet still dangling off the end. Rose was lying on top of him, her head resting on his chest. Their outdoor clothes and shoes were dumped at the edge of the sofa. Both looked totally content, and fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Jackie expected to be angry. She expected herself to be so consumed with rage that she would hold her daughter prisoner until the end of her days, so she could never see that man again. She expected the furiousness to overspill onto him, slapping every bit of him until he flew away in his blue box and never came back.

But she didn't. She felt fine, no anger, no consuming rage, and no rising furiousness. Her first thought was that they looked rather cute like that. Jackie was shocked at herself. She stared at them for a while, trying to figure out exactly what her feelings where. Then, also rather shockingly, she had an epiphany.

It didn't really matter what she thought. She knew her daughter, better than anyone, and knew that Rose was just as stubborn as she was. If this is what she wanted, then no-one, whether it was her mother, a Dalek, or a whole herd of googly-eyed monsters from the planet Zobbiba, was going to get in the way of it. So Jackie did something she'd never done before – she was going to let them get on with it. Whatever Rose wanted, Jackie wanted. If it made Rose happy, Jackie was happy too. It was obvious that they were made for each other. Soulmates.

She made her way into the kitchen, smiling broadly. She happily made the two some breakfast. She was pleased for her daughter – it wasn't every day you found your soulmate. She heard someone stirring in the front room, and walked through with a cup of tea for whomever it was that was awake.

* * *

The first coherent thought in the Doctor's head was that his feet were freezing.

The second was that there was something lovely and warm was on his chest. He pulled his arms closer around it, savouring the warmth.

Third was that he was on Jackie Tyler's sofa, and that she was probably awake or about to wake soon.

His eyes snapped open, and winced at the bright sunlight. Looking down, he saw the 'something lovely and warm' was Rose, still sound asleep. He moved slightly to see if he could get out from underneath her, but to no avail; she just clung to him and buried herself deeper into his chest. He sighed, but then heard movement from the kitchen. His eyes flew open wide as he heard Jackie pottering around the kitchen, obviously making breakfast; she was whistling as the kettle boiled. Whistling? A frown appeared in the Doctor's forehead. He checked again where Jackie's bedroom was; she would walk right past them to get to the kitchen.

The kitchen door opened, and the Doctor held his breath as Jackie walked through, two cups of tea in hand. "I guessed it'd be you up first," she whispered, handing him a cup of tea. He shook his head, pointing to the coffee table, then to Rose. Jackie nodded, set the cup down, and helped pry Rose off the Doctor. It was no easy feat as Rose seemed bound and determined to take him, or at least his shirt, with her; she grabbed it in fists and held on tightly. The Doctor got up off the sofa, picked Rose up gently, and laid her back on the sofa. He sat with his back against the sofa, legs stuck out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. He was waiting for Jackie to blow.

"You don't usually sleep, do you?" Jackie whispered again, as the Doctor reached for his cup of tea.

He shook his head. "Not usually. But it's becoming more of a common occurrence nowadays. With Rose sleeping half the time, fixing the TARDIS becomes a little boring. Plus the TARDIS doesn't exactly like being 'fixed'. So I've taken to sleeping more often than I'm used to. I'm actually beginning to find myself getting tired," he rambled, trying to prolong the imminent shouting match.

"Ooh, fancy that, posh Time Lordship whatsit gettin' tired," Jackie smirked.

"_She's_," The Doctor said, pointing a thumb behind him, indicating to Rose, "making me domestic."

"Never thought I'd see the day."

"Neither did I."

There was silence for a few moments, the only sounds being the occasional slurp and Rose's light snores.

"Is sausage, bacon and eggs all right for ya?" Jackie asked.

The Doctor looked a little thrown by the comment. "Yeah," he whispered, nodding.

Jackie laughed almost silently. "You look like I'm about to hit ya or somethin'."

The Doctor decided that honestly was probably going to be the best policy for this conversation. "I was expecting it," he said, "after you discovered Rose and I on the sofa."

Jackie smiled. "I was thinkin' about it," she said, and the Doctor saw she was looking more at Rose than him, "but then I realised that it's my daughter that I'm dealin' with, and that she's every bit as stubborn as me. If she wants this, then nothin' is gonna get in 'er way."

The Doctor laughed quietly. "Yeah. I can see that's where she gets her stubbornness from."

Jackie smiled, before she realised what he'd said. "Oi!" she huffed indignantly, as the Doctor chuckled again. "I always thought she was more like her dad than me."

"She's more like you than her father, I think. Even then, she is like him too. Perfect mixture maybe?"

"How do you know? You've never met Pete." Jackie's voice grew soft.

"I did," the Doctor replied, treading cautiously with his words. "Rose asked to go and meet him. So we went back to the day he died. There was a wedding. I like weddings. Especially yours. It was funny."

Jackie didn't find this comment funny at all. "You were not at my weddin'. And how was it funny if you weren't there?" Jackie smirked, thinking she'd caught him out.

"Pete got your name wrong," The Doctor said, also smirking. Jackie looked flabbergasted. "We were at the back. I say me – it was old me, Dumbo with ears and nose."

Jackie gasped. "Oh, my god ..." she said, looking down. "Rose told me that. I called 'er a liar."

"Don't worry about it. Rose doesn't care. She knows that it would have been hard for you to accept, because in life the things that please us the most are the things we seem to deny ourselves." He looked at Rose, who was still sleeping peacefully on the sofa.

"You really do love 'er, don't ya." It was a statement more than a question.

The Doctor didn't say anything, but Jackie took it as a 'yes'. The timer on the oven clicked, and Jackie rose to fetch the food, leaving the Doctor to wake up Rose.

* * *

"Rose ... Rosie. Rose. Wake up," The Doctor shook Rose's shoulder gently. "Rise and sh-hine!"

Rose waved her hands as if batting of a fly. She caught the Doctor in the face, and woke up as her hand came into contact with his cheek. She sat bolt upright, looking like she'd broken her favourite toy.

"Bloody hell, Rose, I was only trying to tell you breakfast is ready. I'm not trying to kill you or anything!" The Doctor said, clutching his hands to his face, playing up the injury.

"Sorry! You were just ... in the way! I'm so, so, sorry!" Rose said apologetically, repeating the phrase countless times. She slid off the sofa and came to rest on her knees beside him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fit as a fiddle. Its fine, you only whacked me a little," The Doctor laughed as Rose cringed, "And your mother woke up before I did, caught us in our ... state, and she didn't kill me."

"Seriously?" Rose's voice was disbelieving.

"Yeah. Truth and all," He said. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"That wouldn't work, you've got two."

"Yes, okay, Miss Smart. Anyway, you're mother is putting breakfast on the table right now. I smell ... bacon, eggs and sausages. And that isn't because she told me what we're having. I have a highly adapted sense of smell. Better than most animals, actually."

Rose rolled her eyes and stood up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Let's go, Timey," she said, referring to the nickname she had made up whilst drunk at her Cousin Mo's 40th the other week.

"That has got to be one of the worst nicknames I've ever known in all my nine hundred years," The Doctor remarked, as he and Rose walked to the dining table. Rose could see he was fidgeting to get away.

"We'll be gone in a couple of hours. First to refuel, then we'll go find Jack like you promised."

Boy, he was going to regret that one.


	9. The Jack Attack

**The Jack Attack**

**Now, for those of you who are Torchwood fans, I have placed them in my own pairings. So I've completely taken Torchwood and squeezed it into a ball of putty and moulded it again into what I want. And also spoilers for some Torchwood episodes and Boom Town and Tooth and Claw. Takes place around the beginning of series one of Torchwood,**** before The Battle of Canary Wharf. There is some strong language, by the way. **

* * *

Captain Jack Harkness was not exactly having the best day. Okay, it was the worst day he'd had in a long, long time.

First, Weevils started to appear all over Cardiff, and then Swansea. With there only being five people on team, they were stretched thin enough as it was trying to keep Cardiff covered, never mind Swansea.

Second, a power cut covering the whole of South Wales left the base in complete darkness, with Tosh complaining that she couldn't get into her computer. Owen and Ianto were both moaning over the absence of a working coffee machine; Owen because he needed a cup (or three) to cure his hangover, Ianto because ... well, he had nothing to do otherwise.

And to top it all off, he now had a crying Gwen on his hands. A crying Gwen was about as useful as a singing toaster. Now, Gwen had been doing her fair share of cheating on Rhys. Everyone had seen the 'sneaky' kiss with Owen. But when Rhys broke up with her, she insisted she loved him. They were trying to work it out over the phone, whilst the rest of the team listened in.

"I don't know what she sees in him to be honest. He's a bit of a wanker."

Jack nodded at Owen's comment. "He's all brawn and no brains."

"Now, don't go making fun of Gwen. Obviously she's found someone she likes, even if he is a little bit ... bolshy. It's more than can be said for anyone else here," said Tosh, always the peacekeeper.

"He's a wanker," Owen confirmed.

"Owen, leave your own romantic feelings for Gwen out of this. She's going through a hard time and we should all be there for her. All of us and the pizza, of course," Ianto added, gesturing to the pizza (he hoped; he couldn't really see in the dark) which was half-eaten and rapidly going cold.

"Yeah," Jack said. Tosh squealed.

"I think we're getting power back!" she said, jabbing buttons left, right and centre to [to test her theory. The lights flared up thirty seconds later, to Ianto's sarcastic clapping and the sound of Owen running across to the coffee machine.

"Thank God. We're not vampires, people who run the electrics!" Jack yelled to the ceiling. Gwen threw a glare at Jack before going back to her phone conversation.

It was the first thing that had gone right today. The second was around fifteen minutes away.

* * *

It was one o'clock in the afternoon when Rose and the Doctor finally left Jackie's, much to the Doctor's chagrin. They finally left with Rose's bag of clean washing, a mince pie and a lemon cheesecake, both home-cooked by Jackie (she said she needed a new pet project now that her daughter was away - although Rose didn't like that fact that she basically called her a pet project) and another bag of clothes Jackie had bought for Rose.

When Jackie proudly presented them to her daughter, Rose's expression was enough to know that those clothes would be hidden in the TARDIS wardrobe, never again to see the light of day.

"Now, don't be gone too long, mind," Jackie said, as if Rose was going on a night out. "I wanna visit from you two next week. A fortnight at the latest, anyway. I'll be calling to see how you are." Jackie always said the same before they left; only today she'd included the Doctor in her speech. He looked both taken aback and slightly touched, although Rose could tell he was trying to hide it best he could.

"See you next year, Jackie!" The Doctor chimed as he walked away from the flat.

"Oi!" Jackie yelled, but smiled as the Doctor turned around and flashed a cheeky grin.

"Kidding!"

"I bet he wasn't," Jackie said to Rose, who was still giving her a hug.

Rose giggled. "Probably not," she said, "but I'll make sure he brings me back at least for Christmas."

"Christmas is a month away, Rose. You better come back before then."

"'Course, Mum," Rose lied, knowing that the next time she'd see her mother _would _be Christmas. "See you later. Love you."

"Love ya too, sweetie." Jackie's voice was sad as she watched her daughter struggle with armfuls of bags and cooking.

"Can't you come and give me a hand?" Rose yelled at the Doctor, who was standing against the TARDIS, waving.

The Doctor sighed. "Can't you do anything, you silly ape?" he said affectionately, and relieved her of her bags of washing, leaving Rose to carry the cooking.

Rose scowled at him. "I can do lots of things. I can touch my nose with my tongue, look," she said, demonstrating.

The Doctor tried, but he couldn't do it. Stumped by the new problem, he went cross-eyed as he tried in vain to get his tongue to touch his nose.

Rose laughed. "You can't do it, haha!" she said, pointing at him and laughing. The Doctor glared at her and stalked away towards the TARDIS, trying to ignore Rose's laughter following him.

"Right! We're all set. Cardiff 2008, here we come!" The Doctor said, rubbing his hands together as he and Rose rushed around the TARDIS console like lunatics, pushing buttons and grabbing levers.

"Can I ask a question?" Rose said, holding on to the TARDIS as she thrashed her way through the Vortex.

"Shoot."

"Did you actually take, and pass, a test to fly this thing?"

"Of course."

"Really?" Rose's voice was laced with scepticism.

"I took the test. I never said anything about passing it."

"Evidently."

"Oi!" The Doctor looked up from the console. "Are you saying my driving skills are less than spectacular?"

Rose gave him a look. "Less than spectacular is an understatement. They are shocking."

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short by the TARDIS throwing him to the ground. Rose came barrelling into him half a second later, his body acting as a shield between her and a support strut.

"Sorry ..." she muttered weakly, getting to her feet.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, using the support beam to pull himself to his feet as Rose got her bearings again. "Cardiff!" He clapped his hands together, before pressing a button that let the TARDIS soak up the energy the Rift generated. "We have about 24 hours until she's finished and, quite frankly, after that questionable lunch I'm famished." Jackie had served soup – only it was more like water than soup.

Rose nodded. "I love my mum and all, but cooking is not one of her talents," she said. "So, dinner?"

"Dinner."

The two left the TARDIS to her own devices and stepped outside excitedly, only to be greeted by a harsh eastern wind hitting their faces. "Ooh, chilly," the Doctor said, pulling his coat further around him. Rose tucked her chin into her scarf.

"So where are we going for dinner?"

"Anywhere but there," he replied, pointing to the restaurant he had dined in last time he was in Cardiff, back in his Ninth body. He had gone to dinner with Margaret Blaine, who was Slitheen – she had pretended to be a mayor so she could blow up the Earth. All in all, she wasn't one of the top ten people he had ever taken to dinner. Luckily, the number one person was standing right beside him, her small hand clasped tightly in his, laughing at his comment.

"Ooh, remember Margaret? That was a day and a half. And I got to say Raxic-"

"Don't even go there, Rose. It'll take you the whole of dinner to get it right anyway. There's a place! I think it's Italian ..." he trailed off, looking at the menu on the outside. To Rose, it seemed very posh.

"Why don't we go to that restaurant we went to with Jack? And he told us about his naked dash to his ship?" Rose said, looking up at him.

"I suppose so," he said, looking down at her. "It was quite good that place, eh? Nice scones. With jam. And marmalade."

"God, marmalade on the brain, you have. Let's go ... if we parked in the same place, I think it's that way." He pointed the north, and Rose nodded. The two set off, swinging hands and talking about trivial things like dodgy dimension stabilisers. Well, for all of thirty seconds, until a very manly voice yelled out:

"ROOOOOOSSSSEEEEEEEEEE!"

Rose turned around sharply, her hair flyaway in the wind. The Doctor also turned, looking to see who was running towards them like something out of an old romantic comedy.

"JACK!" Rose yelled, equally as loud, as Jack reached them, and attacked Rose with a bear hug that could have lasted decades. "What's up?" she said, her voice muffled as Jack's military jacket smothered her.

"Not much, doll," he said, pulling back to get a look at her. "Your hair is shorter," he remarked, pulling on a blonde strand.

"Really? I've been growing it as well."

"Don't I get a hug?" The Doctor said, putting a hand to his chest and looking hurt.

"Who's pretty boy?" Jack said, nodding to the Doctor. "I don't think the Doctor would be too happy at this one. He's actually kinda pretty. Captain Jack Harkness." Jack stuck his hand out to the Doctor, who looked plainly horrified that Jack was flirting with him.

"Don't call me pretty again."

"Jack, this_ is_ the Doctor," Rose said - evidently both she and Jack were ignoring the Doctor, and he was getting a touch annoyed.

"Very funny, Rose. Where is he, anyway? I wanna give him a smooch and a slap for leaving me."

"He is me!" The Doctor said, waving at Jack sarcastically. "Me! 1941, middle of the Blitz, Rose hanging from a barrage balloon. Gas-mask zombies everywhere crying for their mummies. Then here with Slitheen, Sambooka and short skirts. Or was that just Rose? I forget," he rambled, as Rose smacked him in the arm for the last comment. "And you can leave out the smooch and slap, by the way. I won't appreciate either."

Jack looked pretty shocked, convinced that it was the Doctor; only he could have known the sambooka incident that ended up disastrous. "What happened to big ears and nose?"

"I regenerated."

"I thought regeneration was a myth."

"Get off, Jack, seriously?" The Doctor said incredulously.

"Yeah. Well obviously I was wrong, duh, but ... it doesn't matter anyway. Where are you guys going? We _so_ need to have a good chinwag."

"We were just going that little cafe ... what's the name of it?" Rose said, pointing in the direction she thought the cafe was in.

"Hot Pepper Jelly," Jack replied. "Go there all the time."

"Aww, cute name," Rose said. "Anyway, can we get going before I become and icicle?"

"Sure. It's this way," Jack said, pointing in the complete opposite direction that Rose and the Doctor had headed.

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other and burst out laughing, Jack looking on, a little confused.

"Well ... I've not been up to much. Work and all that," Jack said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Really? Where do you work?" Rose asked, so they could get the trival questions over and done with.

"Torchwood."

"Hmm ... I've heard of that before," Rose replied, while the Doctor nodded.

"I'm getting the same deja vu I got with Bad Wolf," he said to Rose.

"Apparently," Jack started, sniggering, "according to official Torchwood documents, anyway, Queen Victoria set up Torchwood as a weapon against you two."

Rose gasped; the Doctor clicked his fingers.

"Of course! Werewolf. She didn't want us coming back - remember, after she knighted us, she banished us?" The Doctor said, looking at Rose.

"Yeah! We were like, 'what? You just knighted us and now you're making us leave Britain?' It was so funny ... " Rose trailed off, reminising.

"Queen Victoria was a werewolf?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

Rose and the Doctor nodded simultaniously. "Yep. Rose got stuck in a room with the werewolf that bit the Queen, I had dinner with the Queen, we saved ourselves using a combination of books, logic, mistletoe and the Koh-i-Noor. We also got knighted, had a blast imitating werewolves and I lost a tenner in a bet. All in a days work."

Jack threw his head back and laughed loudly, causing several people sitting nearby to turn their heads and tut at the threesome who were roaring with laughter. "I bet you did. Sounds like an interesting little adventure."

"Yeah, but we'd love to hear about yours," Rose said eagerly.

"Haha! Torchwood's great and all, but it's nowhere near as exciting as being on the TARDIS. I did, however, stop a sex-addicted alien from screwing the whole of Cardiff to death. That was very interesting indeed, to say the very least!"

The Doctor roared with laughter while Rose was laughing so hard she nearly fell of her chair, holding on to the table and the Doctor's hands, which immediately went around her waist to straighten her up. The Doctor made sure Rose wasn't going to make any contact with the cafe floor before wiping away the tears that were streaming down his face.

"Oh, Jack, we should come here more often. Although my sides and my cheeks are hurting like hell!" The Doctor said, rubbing at his sides.

"Your cheeks? Worse than if my mum slapped them?" Rose challenged.

"No way. I'd rather sit through a one-hundred-Slitheen show where the main act was farting rather than take a slap, thank you," the Doctor replied as Jack's phone trilled into life.

"Ooh, Jack's tres popular!" Rose said, giggling like she was ten rather than nearly twenty-one. Jack mumbled something intelligible into the phone, before shutting it with a snap.

"D'ya wanna meet my team?"

* * *

The first word that Rose would use to describe the Torchwood Base would be 'homey'.

It was a home away from home, of sorts. Pizza boxes lay scattered around the room and there was a large sofa in the of the various members of the team hung around the sofa, with them pulling funny faces or looking serious. A very high-tech-looking computer was in the middle, and an Asian woman was typing away furiously, not even noticing that people had come in. The rest had, though. The other woman, who looked a lot like someone Rose had seen before, was standing watching them with teary eyes, talking in low tones to another man who was wearing a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck; there was also a man in the corner, the only one in a suit, standing by the coffee machine, never taking his eyes off Jack.

However, the arcitecture of the place is what caught the Doctor's eye. It was obviously underground, under the water tower. It stood tall and proud in the centre of the main room, or 'Hub' as Jack called it. Everything was sharp and defined, right down to the 'Torchwood' sign on the wall, which looked like a sign at a tube station. It was quite dingy, actually, if the Doctor was being honest. But still - it was good, as bases go.

"Hey, everyone! Your God is back!" Jack said, throwing his coat over the sofa. Everyone apart from the Asian woman rolled their eyes, apparently used to this kind of talk from Jack.

"I see you've conquered your shyness, Jack," Rose said sarcastically. The Doctor laughed while Jack threw them both a dirty look.

"Right, introductions; this lovely lady here by the computer is Tosh, and the other equally lovely lady is Gwen," Jack said, pointing at each of them in turn. Only Gwen waved and said 'hi', Tosh was too engrossed in whatever she was doing to speak. "Our medic is Owen, and our generally-brilliant-and-useful-for-anything man, Ianto!" The man in the white coat, Owen, waved and smiled at Rose, ignoring the Doctor, while Ianto just nodded at them both. "Guys, this is the Doctor and Rose. They are my very best friends and occasional smooch buddies."

"That was once and we all thought we were going to die. Jack initiated it," Rose said to everyone. They all laughed.

"And I thought we were his best friends. Shame, that," Owen said, running up to Rose. "Hi, I'm Owen."

"So I've heard. As you've heard, I'm Rose, and this is the Doctor." She used that hands that wasn't in the Doctor's to point at him. The Doctor said a polite 'hi' before pulling Rose over to see the fancy computer, emphasising their joined hands. Owen looked slightly disappointed.

"Ooh, fancy piece of tech, that. I like it. A lot," the Doctor said, whipping out his glasses to get a closer look.

"Jack!" Tosh called, ignoring him. "There's something coming in but I can't get an exact reading on what it is!"

Jack was there in a flash. "Ooh. Now that is interesting. Doctor, what do you think?"

The Doctor diverted his attention and looked at the readings. "Wow ... they certainly are something. Not something I've encountered before."

"Jesus!" Ianto's voice rang over the Hub as something came into being beside him. It was a siluette of a person, wispy, not fully formed. Like a ghost. It wasn't solid looking, and walked around.

"What the hell is that, Jack?" Gwen spoke for the first time, her heavy Welsh accent emphasising the words.

"We apparently are being haunted by ghosts, now, as well," Jack said, his tone conveying his disbelief at the events.

"According to the CCTV, there are ghosts outside, too," Tosh said, pointing at the screen. Jack gulped, and turned to the Doctor and Rose.

"You guys willing to stay and help out?"

The two grinned at each other; they could never go to Cardiff without something going wrong. But they loved it, lived for it. "Always!" was their answer.

* * *

**_thanks to Karen McCombie for the Hot Pepper Jelly title. Always loved that cafe name ..._**


	10. Ghostbusting Plungers

****

Ghostbusting Plungers

**spoliers for Army of Ghosts/Doomsday/Empty Child/Doctor Dances/Boom Town. And I had to put in the Ghostbusters bit, didn't I? Strong language.**

* * *

"I really should have bet a tenner that we'd get roped into helping Jack with something," Rose said wistfully, taking a moment to reflect - even though they didn't really have a moment, as Jack's Torchwood team were acting like it was last call at the pub. Everyone was running around and screaming, while the Doctor and Rose stood off to one side, totally forgotten, trying to work out what was forcing its way through the void.

"I would have bet twenty," the Doctor replied, still staring intently into the computer screen.

Rose looked too, but only saw the white fuzzy outlines. "They're like ghosts ..." she noted, trailing off from her frankly stupid idea.

The Doctor looked round at her, eyes wide. "Rose Tyler, you are officially a genius!" he said, giving her a kiss before running out the room, Rose hot at his heels. OK, maybe not such a stupid idea then. She wondered where he was going, before she realised he'd left the TARDIS just outside for convenience.

The Doctor fiddled with the TARDIS, which opened with ease. "If they're ghosts ... I don't believe in ghosts, to be honest ... then I can just use my Apparitional Stabiliser with incorporated hydrophyatic modules to moderate the frequency ..." he stopped speaking, just running around grabbing bits of wire. "Go and open the floor panel for me!" he shouted, as he passed the control room, trying to go from one room to another.

Rose wrenched open the floor panel that the Doctor often disappeared down to the tweak the TARDIS. "What do you need that for?" she asked, but never got an answer as he vanished down into the pit.

"Well, don't tell me you're just gonna vanish down there and do nothing?" Rose said incredulously - it wasn't the Doctor's normal behaviour to do nothing at all.

No answer. Rose huffed, but nevertheless stayed where she was. She did have a idea to close the floor panel and trap him down there, just for fun. Rose was standing, looking down into the TARDIS's depths when she felt a wave of nausea and almost did drop the floor panel; but luckily it went as quickly as it had came.

He emerged three and a half minutes later with a plunger-like object, holding it like gun. "Who ya gonna call?" he said, trying to moonwalk out the TARDIS.

"Ghostbusters!" Rose sang back as she leaned against the console, refering to the movie they'd watched a couple of nights ago. The Doctor had sat through the whole movie complaining about the lack of authentic aliens in movies, only really enjoying the soundtrack - which he'd proceeded to sing every moment he could since then.

"I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" He said, giving up on the moonwalking and just running out the door instead, Rose's laughter following him as he ran from the TARDIS back to Torchwood.

"Oi, Jack! You're mate's holding a plunger and he's the only guy I've ever met who looks threatening with said plunger!" Owen yelled, his eyes trained on the Doctor and Rose.

"Don't worry, he can make anything look threatening!" Jack replied, at the Doctor rolled his eyes. Everyone resumed their work.

"Isn't anyone going to ask what I'm doing with a plunger?" the Doctor asked, waving the object around. Rose had to duck suddenly - he almost hit her in the head whilst waving it around like a farewell hankerchief.

Nobody said anything.

The Doctor heaved an exasperated sigh.

Rose recognised it and decided to diffuse the situation before the Doctor blew up and went into a rant. And besides, she was genuinely curious as to what he was doing with a plunger. "What _are_ you doing with a plunger, Doctor? As far as I know, Torchwood's toliets are fully functional. I just went about fifteen minutes ago, give or take."

The Doctor swung around to face her, his grin dazzling; Rose couldn't help but beam back. "Thank you, Rose!" he said loudly, trying and failing to attract the others. "Well, when the 'ghosts' - although I'm positive they aren't ghosts - appear again, I sucker it with this and it downloads data. Then, I take it back to the TARDIS and it pinpoints it's source, and whey-hey! There's your ghostmakers," he finished, looking immensely proud of himself.

Jack looked up, as did Owen. "That's actually not a bad idea," Owen said, looking impressed.

Jack smiled brilliantly. "That's the Doctor! Always ready with a completely random but fantastic idea and a banana from the groves of Villengard," he said, clapping Owen on the back as he ran to the Doctor to inspect his plunging-sucker machine.

Owen just looked confused, but nevertheless followed Jack up to evaluate his newly created machine. Gwen and Ianto reluctantly came as well, although they didn't look as excited or curious about the machine as the others did. Tosh never moved from her computer, but threw a sneaky glance at them now and then when she thought no-one was looking.

"Not bad. What exactly are you a Doctor of? If you don't mind me asking?" Owen said, looking at the machine with awe.

"A lot of things. So many things I forget."

"You forget what you're a Doctor of?" Owen said incredulously, tearing his gaze away from the plunger, albeit reluctantly.

"Don't listen to him, Owen. He knows exactly what he's a Doctor of, he just doesn't want to share it with ... well, anyone, it seems," Rose said, laying a hand on Owen's shoulder in sympathy. Owen looked delighted that Rose had even spoken to him, never mind remember his name or touched him; the Doctor noticed and shuffled slightly closer to Rose.

"So, how often do these 'ghosts' appear?" the Doctor said, changing the subject quickly before anything more could be said between Rose and Owen. As far as he could tell, Owen was a flirter, and him anywhere near 'his' Rose was not a good thing in his eyes. The Doctor knew he was being unreasonably territorial, but he couldn't find it within himself to care.

"About every half an hour or so. I think Tosh has been monitoring the patterns," Gwen spoke for the first time, and went over to the computer beside Tosh.

For the first time, Tosh looked at the Doctor. "Are you the Doctor? As in _the_ Doctor?" she said, looking at him.

"That's me! The one, the only, and the best!" he replied.

"'Coz I knew a man called the Doctor. Met him in Albion Hospital about two years ago, undercover for this place. Maybe it was three. After those aliens destroyed Big Ben? The alien was a pig in a suit. This man called the Doctor - well it couldn't have been unless there is two Doctors - said it was like-"

"A mermaid," the Doctor replied, understanding drifting into his eyes. "I knew I recognised you from somewhere! And now I remember!" He turned to Rose. "Remember when I left after we first met the Slitheen? I went to Albion Hospital to check out the alien, and it seems Tosh was the person in charge. But weren't you a medic?"

"Yes. Owen and I were there. He was off consulting with other doctors, I think. I don't really remember, I was stressed. It was you? But it couldn't have been, it was a completely different person!"

"I changed to save my life. I don't wanna go into it - but I'm the same person, different features. Do you believe me?"

Tosh nodded. "I've seen too many twisted, crazy things since joining this job not to. It's one of the more sane answers I've had."

Everyone else was watching this exchange with wide eyes. Rose turned to Gwen suddenly. "While we're on it, I recognize you," she said.

"I've never seen you before in my life!" Gwen said, looking slightly shocked.

"Ooh, I see, I recognize you too," the Doctor said. "You look like Gwyneth, someone we met in-"

"Doctor, let's not get into it," Rose said, cutting over him. "Tosh, when did you say the ghost-things were coming?"

"If the patterns stay the same, then there should be another sighting in around twenty minutes," Tosh replied, punching buttons. Everyone seemed to let out a breath they didn't know they were holding, and the shouting and running seemed to fade into brisk walks and loud voices. Again, no-one seemed to notice the pair of time travellers.

"And now we wait," Rose said, settling herself down on the couch.

"And now we wait," the Doctor repeated, sitting beside her, smiling slightly as she cuddled into him.

* * *

A whirring noise filled the small Hub, seemingly eminating from the computer. Rose raised her head from it's position on the Doctor's shoulder, the man himself looking towards the computer, but not daring to go over and touch it, no matter how much he wanted to. Anyway, Tosh was over there before anyone else could register something going on - she was certainly very protective of her computer.

"Ghost sighting, two minutes," she said to Jack, who had come up behind her.

"You ready, Doctor? This machine of yours better work!"

"I'm locked and loaded," the Doctor replied, leaping up, holding the machine in the same way one would hold a gun. "Da-da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da, da-da-da ..." he hummed, trying to sing the James Bond theme and failing.

Rise giggled. "However hard you try, you won't be James Bond," she said, giving him a consoling hug.

"Why not? I've got the looks, the intelligance, the ..."

"License to annoy people? Travel in time? Zoom across space as if you own it?"

"Shut up, Jack," The Doctor said, pretending to be annoyed at Jack's comment. Rose - and probably everyone else, although they didn't show it - knew he wasn't.

"Anyway, can everyone get into their designated positions? Ghosts in 55 seconds!" Tosh said, getting impatient with the banter that was being exchanged. The Doctor nodded and set off wandering around the Hub, waiting for the ghosts to appear.

"Over there, Doctor!" Ianto said, pointing to a malformed shape to the Doctor's left. He swivelled around, but before he could get fully around the shape moved.

Gwen pointed to Rose. "Beside Rose!" she yelled, gesturing to the shape that was forming. The Doctor ran full pelt over to her, and waiting until the shape was seemingly fully formed, or as formed as it was going to be. He thrust the machine into the ghost, which surprisingly reacted to the thing on it; it squirmed, trying to dislodge the machine but it held firm.

"It's actually reacting to it," Gwen said, standing beside Rose, who had scarpered as soon as she realised there was a ghost standing alongside her.

"I know, I didn't think it would do something like that. So it must be an actual entity rather than a apparition," Rose deducted, just as the ghost started to flicker.

"It's fading!" the Doctor said, looking puzzled.

"Don't worry, they only last for a minute at the most!" Jack said reassuringly.

Finally, after a lot of flickering, fading and false disappearing alarms, the ghost faded away, leaving the Doctor holding the machine. "Right! Off to the TARDIS! Rose!" he said, pulling Rose along by the hand to process the information he'd collected.

The Torchwood team all started to follow after him, but Jack reached out a cautious hand. "I wouldn't. He's very, very protective of his ship."

"Honestly?" Owen said incredulously, "It's only a ship."

"Yeah, but it's the only thing the Doctor's constantly had in nine hundred years. It's a touchy subject." Jack's look made it clear that he'd thought the same as them, once upon a time, whenever he first met the Doctor. "Trust me, I would know. Used to take the absolute piss out of him ... before he changed. I don't know how he'll react if he catches any of you guys in the ship."

"Why?" Tosh said, her voice curious. "It's not like we're going to damage it or anything."

"It's not that he doesn't trust you. Honestly, just leave it. I'll be back in a moment. _Don't_ follow me." His voice held a note of finality that everyone knew not to challenge.

Jack left, entering the blue box that parked right outside. Everyone looked a little disappointed.

"I hate it when he keeps good alien devices to himself," Owen grumbled, getting murmurs of agreement from the rest of the team.

"It's like he doesn't want us to be a part of this," Gwen said, sitting down and folding her arms over her chest.

"Have any of you guys actually thought that maybe this Doctor is really protective of his ship? He certainly is protective of Rose," Ianto said, adding in the last part for Owen benefit, enjoying the flicker of annoyance that flashed across Owen's face.

"He sure is. He won't let go of her, even let her out of his sight for more than ten seconds. If at all," Owen said, clearly irritated by this fact.

"I'd let it go Owen, if I were you," Ianto smirked, enjoying taking the mick out of Owen.

"Might as well. Won't get within a hundred miles of her with that skinny idiot in the way," Owen said, defeated.

"You're just jealous 'coz he's better Doctor than you," Ianto said, Gwen nodding her agreement.

Owen said nothing.

* * *

The Doctor strode up to the central column, where there was an opening already in place for the machine to slot through. After the Doctor had done just that, he leant back against the column, waiting as it processed.

"What do you think of Jack's team, then? Don't tell me you haven't assessed every person in there," Rose said, wrapping an arm around his waist, leaning on his shoulder.

The Doctor threw her a look, but Rose threw it right back; she knew that Doctor better than that, and she also knew that he would have made up his mind about every single person in that room within five minutes of meeting them.

"Well, that Tosh looks like a little bit of a brainbox. And Ianto seems OK, a little but quiet if you ask me. Gwen ... she acts like she's some sort of wet blanket, to be perfectly honest."

"Doctor! She's in the middle of a breakup, according to Owen," Rose said, as the Doctor 'aahed' in realisation, before his expression darkened at the mention of Owen.

"I have to admit, there is something about Owen I haven't taken to," he said, as Rose snorted. "What?" he looked down at her.

"'Something I haven't taken to'?" Rose said, making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "You plainly dislike him."

"He irritates me, that's all."

"Why?"

"He just does. A little bit cocky, walks around as if he's the best doctor on the planet. Well, I showed him something!" he said, adopting a smug expression.

"Ugh. You're the worst, honestly!" Rose teased, hitting him lightly in the stomach with her free arm.

"Cheers," he said rubbing it with a wounded expression as Jack burst through the door.

"Bonjour mon amies! Sorry about the team, too damn curious for their own good," Jack said, a genuine look of apology on his face.

"No need to apologize. They're a good team," the Doctor said, nodding to the door.

"Yeah they are. When they get their heads together and work, that is."

The TARDIS console beeped, grabbing the three's attention immediately. The Doctor - being the only one who could ready Gallifreyan - seemed disturbed by the array of symbols. The more he read, the whiter he became.

"Doctor? What's wrong, what is it?" Rose said, her voice getting higher with every word.

"Doctor, what's wrong? Are they ghosts?" Jack said as well, his voice conveying his worry.

"They're not ghosts," the Doctor whispered, his face ashen.

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"Well ... does a footprint look like a boot?" He answered, turning to face them, his expression grim.

* * *

**Ooh. Well, Doomsday next chapter! Don't really know how it's gonna turn out ... it's going through some major edits. Should by next week.**


	11. Of Biro Pens and Odd Looking Cybermen

**Of Biro Pens and Odd-Looking Cybermen**

_Righty-o ... Army of Ghosts. This was a hard one to write. But huge plot developments so every word counts. _

_Some bits are my own creation; some are taken from AOG. Most of the diologue is different, be warned._

_And, you were warned at the beginning what this story entailed :) and my title rhymes! :)_

* * *

"What do you mean, 'a footprint doesn't look like a boot?'" Rose said incredulously, her eyebrows meeting her hairline.

Jack looked at Rose. "You mean you don't know what he's on about either?" he said, turning his gaze on the Doctor.

"Rose ..." the Doctor started carefully, as if he was treading carefully on what he was saying. "I have officially no idea what I'm on about. But whatever these things are - they aren't human."

"You don't know?" Jack said, dubious.

"I DON'T KNOW! I don't always know everything, Jack! For God's sake!" the Doctor yelled, running his fingers before letting out a "Arggghh!" of frustration. Rose's frown smoothed out when she saw his annoyance at being kept in the dark. She walked over to him, slipping an arm around his waist, drawing nonsense patters on the small slice of skin between his trousers and his shirt.

"Don't worry about it," she said, soothingly. "We'll figure it out, like we always do. The old team, Shiver and Shake, yeah?" She heard his breathing, which was laboured and coming out in puffs, slow until he was breathing evenly again. Rose didn't know why this was bothering the Doctor so much, but her main concern was getting him to calm down.

"Thanks," he muttered, embarrassed. "But I still have no idea. I don't like having no idea. I always usually have a faint idea, a nudge in the right direction. But now? Zilch. Nada. Zip. Je ne pas de information."

Jack came up and stood beside the Doctor. "Well, like Rose said, we'll figure it out, together. The old TARDIS team back together once again!" he said, throwing his hand up in the air. The Doctor couldn't help but laugh and high-fived his hand. Rose did likewise, but stopped in mid-air, her face pale white.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Bathroom's that-a-way, Rosie," Jack said, pointing in the direction of the bathroom - he'd barely finished his sentence when Rose barged past him, one hand over her mouth. The two men stared after her for a second before running headlong down the corridor of the TARDIS.

"Rose! Rose! Are you okay? What's wrong?" the Doctor's voice called through the door anxiously. They could hear her retching and tried to open to door, but it was locked. "TARDIS!" he moaned, pulling on the door. The retching stopped.

"Rose?"

The tap ran for a few minutes, and they could hear Rose brushing her teeth; the two men looked at each other with identical bemused expressions. The door unlocked, and Rose stepped out. She barely had time to registered the Doctor and Jack standing there then the former pulled her into his arms, squeezing her lightly.

"Hey. Sorry, I don't know what came over me," she said into the Doctor's shoulder. He pulled back from her, still keeping her in his arms, and lightly stroked her hair.

"Are you sure you're okay? You do have a lot more colour in you than you did, I must admit. You looked like you'd seen a ghost!" the Doctor said, as the three chuckled at the pun.

"Yeah. I'm feeling much better," Rose said, rubbing her stomach lightly. "I honestly don't know. I just suddenly knew I was going to be sick, I was the oddest feeling. Anyway, can we get back to boot-shaped ghosts?"

"Yep," the Doctor said, popping the 'p'. "I still have no idea what's causing it."

Jack nodded. "Me either. And if we don't know what's causing it then we can't-" He was cut off by The Killer's '_When You Were Young'_, which trilled into life.

Rose looked sheepish. "My mobile," she said as an explanation, pulling the offending item from her jeans pocket. "Mum," she sighed, flipping it open as the Doctor threw himself down on the Captain's Chair, feet resting on the lip of the console. Jack joined him, but kept his feet on the ground.

"Hey, Mum," Rose said, biting her lip, miming 'sorry' to the Doctor. He shrugged his shoulder in return.

_"Hey darlin'. Listen, where are ya?"_ Everyone could hear Jackie's shrill tones on the other end of the phone.

"Cardiff," Rose replied, "But we only just left, Mum ..." she trailed off, not wanting to hurt her mum's feelings.

_"I know love. But it's just that there have been these really weird ghosts poppin' up an' I knew the Doctor would like to know wha' was goin' on. As would the rest o' the world." _

"I know about them, Mum. That's kinda why we're in Cardiff, catching up with an old friend. But we'll hopefully sort out the ghosts soon," Rose said comfortingly.

_"Yeah right, love. Ya may fly around space an' time but ya don't save the world!" _

"Yeah, you're right Mum," Rose said, trying to shush the Doctor and Jack who were rolling around on the Captain's Chair in silent laughter, fists in their mouths to stop them from laughing out loud.

_"Well, I jus' thought ya'd like to know. I'll be off - I'm takin' Bev to Tesco. D'ya know she lost 'er drivin' licence again? Drink drivin' and speedin'. I swear I'm never goin' in a car with 'er!" _Jackie's voice was one of disbelief, as if she couldn't believe her best friend could be so stupid as to drink and drive.

"Again? Geez, is that the third time? Well, bye Mum, love you," Rose said, rolling her eyes as her mum prattled on about Bev and her reckless driving.

_"Bye, love."_

"Bye," Rose said, snapping her phone shut. "Just Mum telling us about ghosts. Apparently they're in London too."

"They're all over Britain, actually," Jack said. "And much of Europe. I wouldn't be surprised if it's all over the world."

The Doctor cringed. "If that's the case, we better get to ... wherever the TARDIS tells us to go." He jumped up suddenly, reading once again the array of symbols.

"Where exactly are we going, Doctor?" Rose said, confusion written on her face.

"Torchwood One, London," he replied, getting ready for flight. "Are you coming, Jack?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Nah, I better not leave that bunch of mine," he said, jamming a thumb in the direction of the TARDIS doors. "We'll try and keep the media from getting anywhere too near the truth, and we'll try to keep the ghosts under control. Here," he extended a hand for Rose's mobile, and punched in some numbers, "There's my mobile number if you need me. I'll be a moment's notice away. And I'm not gonna kiss you guys this time 'coz I know you'll make it out of here!"

"We will," Rose said, but nevertheless gave Jack a bear hug, squeezing him tightly. "See you soon."

"See you soon, Rosie," he agreed. "Bye Doc!" Jack ran over to him and gave him a hug identical to the one he'd just given Rose.

"Don't call me Doc!" the Doctor reminded him, but laughed anyway.

"Au reviour!" Jack said one last time as he exited the TARDIS. Rose ran to the doors to wave, shutting them after ten seconds.

Rose walked back up the ramp slowly towards the Doctor.

"Just you and me, then?" he said, extending his hand towards her, pulling her against him tightly.

"Yep. Better with two, isn't it?" she said, and the Doctor nodded as the TARDIS set off for Torchwood London.

Rose only had one thought - he'd have to get used to it being better with three.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Torchwood London, thirty-nine year old Yvonne Hartman was smirking. Everything was going to plan.

The ghost shifts were working. Neither she, nor her collegues, knew what they were.

But they were very useful for one thing.

Getting the Doctor to Torchwood.

"TARDIS on flight route to Torchwood London!" A male voice called, grabbing Yvonne's attention.

"Where's he going to end up?" she asked, peering over his shoulder at the screen.

"Storage Cupboard Eight," he replied.

"Right," Yvonne said, and looked around. "You men!" She pointed to the small group of soliders who were guarding the door. "With me! Storage Cupboard Eight!"

Yvonne walked briskly to the cupboard. At last, the Doctor would be caught. And she would be the Director of Torchwood when he was caught. Oh, the glory. She smirked broadly once more.

"Don't shoot unless I tell you too," she said to the men, as the TARDIS wheezed into existence.

* * *

The Doctor managed a uneventful flight through the Vortex. His nervousness seemed to emanate from him as Rose came over, once again her very presence calming him. She gave him and hug, rubbing her hand up his back.

"Don't worry about this. It can't be nothing too bad, right?"

"Don't know anything," He said.

"Can't be worse than Daleks," Rose reasoned, and the Doctor brightened considerably at that.

"Yeah, can't be worse than Daleks, can it?" He said, and ran a hand over the console. He frowned at Rose. "Don't go out there, please. Stay here until I tell you it's safe."

Rose frowned. "What?"

"I don't know what I'm going into out there. It could be guns. Aliens. Rose-Tyler-Eating-Bugs. Please, just stay here," he said, well aware he was begging her but didn't care.

"No." She said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. She ran around him to the TARDIS doors, blocking them.

"Puh-lease!"

"Doctor, they have guns!" she tried to reason with him, but he was having none of it.

"Yeah, they might. I bet they don't. I'll bet you a tenner," he said, and Rose nodded. "And anyway, I don't have any guns. Or any weapons, unless you count the sonic. So the moral high ground is mine," he said, smoothly wrapping an arm around her waist and moved her to the side. "I'll come back for you, I promise." Sincerity rang in every syllable of his voice. Rose couldn't help but give into him.

"Fine, but go out there and get yourself killed and I'll come and kill you again myself."

The Doctor raised his hand in a mock salute. "Ma'am!" he said, and Rose laughed. He pulled her against him and gave her a deep kiss. "See you soon."

"Not if I see you first!" She said after him. He grinned one last time, and slid out the door.

The first thing that came to the Doctor's mind was that he better stop betting with Rose, she always gets things right.

A red-haired woman, who looked around late thirties, stood before him with an army of men baring guns. He sighed.

"Hey ... hello. I'm the Doctor," he said. The woman nodded.

"We know! We're delighted to see you!" she said, clapping her hands in front of her. "Is it just you on your own?"

"Yep, just me!" He lied, but was comfortable in the knowledge he'd kept Rose safe in the TARDIS.

"Really? Our documents say that the Doctor travels with a companion. That is usually the pattern, is it not?" The woman asked. The Doctor was beginning to seriously dislike her.

"Yep, but she's away with her mother. So it's just me," the Doctor said, lying through his teeth. Jackie was the first thing that came to mind when he needed an excuse for Rose - and it was the most likely place she could be.

"Whatever. It's not your little friend we're interested in. It's you," the woman said.

"Okay ... may I ask, who are you?" the Doctor asked, trying to prolong whatever fate he was agreeing to by going with this woman.

"Yvonne Hartman, Director of Torchwood."

"Oh, it's a woman? Never thought planet Earth would get a woman so high up in government. Or elect a woman. It's not that I'm being sexist or anything, it's just society in general, don't you agree?" he rambled, looking at Yvonne.

"Humph. The records were right - he does like to chatter," she said, as the men laughed obediently. "Follow me, Doctor," Yvonne commanded, and the Doctor followed her as she said. He could tell just from her voice that she wasn't the type of woman to be messed with.

"So ... Torchwood One, huh? Not bad," he said as they walked down an familiar corridor. The Doctor would have sworn he'd been down this one three times already.

"Do you know what Torchwood does? Or who it was made against?"

"Me, isn't it?" The Doctor said.

"Yep. So we're taking you prisoner," Yvonne said, and led him into the room, shutting the door loudly with a solid bang.

* * *

"Now, what do you make of that?"

The Doctor just stared.

"Our computer sources say it doesn't exist. It has no mass, no weight, no nothing. It makes people upset because it's ... absent," Yvonne continued.

"It's a Void Ship."

"What?" Yvonne said, looking at the Doctor.

"An impossible thing," he said, not taking his eyes of the ship. "It's a ship that used to travel between voids. You could sit in that thing through anything; nuclear war, Big Bang, Big Crunch, anything, and it wouldn't even touch the sides." His eyes went from awed to disgusted in less than a second. "We have to send it back! Where did it come from?"

"That's exactly it, Doctor," Yvonne said in despair, rolling her eyes. "It came through first. Then the ghosts followed. We got readings from this area about four years ago, a blind spot. So we built Torchwood Tower to reach it."

"You built a skyscraper just to reach a blind spot?"

"All in the name of homeworld security, Doctor. Anyway, what in it, then, if you're so desperate to send it back?"

"Anything. Anything from anywhere from anytime. Literally, I couldn't say. It would be impossible to guess."

Yvonne suddenly looked at her watch, and frowned. "We have two minutes until the next ghost shift. Come on, Doctor, let's go see our ghosts." She smiled without any humour.

"I don't think these ghost shifts are a good idea," the Doctor replied bluntly, as the made their way out the room and into the lift to take them up.

It was all silent for a minute. "Well, that's your opinion, not ours, isn't it?" Yvonne said eventually, as the lift pinged, and she stepped out, the city of London mapped below them. Double doors on the right read 'Ghost Shift Room' and Yvonne swung them open for the Doctor to go through. He strolled through, hands in his pockets as if he was making his way to buy a newspaper.

"Ghost shift in one minute," Yvonne called to the six workers sitting at their desks. They were all typing furiously.

"I am warning you, stop this shift!" the Doctor said, abandoning all niceness. No more Mr. Nice Guy for these people.

"No. We've done it a thousand times," Yvonne said, reaching for a pair of sunglasses.

"Then stop at a thousand!"

"No. Ghost shift is commencing!"

"Ghost shift online," a mechanical voice called. Yvonne smirked.

A light started bleeding through the wall.

"Fine."

"What?" Yvonne turned around, staring at the Doctor as if he'd just spoken Gallifreyan.

The light shone brighter.

"I said, fine. Sure," he repeated, and pulled a chair from a stack against the door. "Ooh, can't wait. Can I get a cup of tea? I'm parched." he rubbed his hands together.

The light shone brighter still.

This sudden change of attitude unnerved Yvonne, just like the Doctor thought it would. He raised his eyebrows, challenging her to continue.

The light was blinding; the Doctor realised why Yvonne had sunglasses.

Eventually she gave a small sigh. "Stop the ghost shift!" she called, and immediately the light dimmed. It was now the Doctor's time to smirk. It was wiped clean off his face at Yvonne's next comment.

"Right. You - my office - now."

* * *

After half an hour of intense interrogation, the Doctor was ready to kill Yvonne Hartman with a biro pen.

"I don't know what these ghosts are! God, haven't I been through this before? I. Don't. Know," he said, accentuating each word. He was sitting slumped in a chair at Yvonne's desk, Converse on the desk itself.

"Well, if that's the case -" Yvonne said, before being cut off by a buzzing from her laptop. She placed a headset over her head. "Rajesh! Any more news with the Sphere?"

_"No, Ma'am, it's still inactive. But I think you might want to take a look at this. We have ourselves a visitor. I don't know who she is but __coincidentally__ she arrived at the same time as the Doctor,"_ a male voice, 'Rajesh' omitted from the laptop.

"Do you know her?" Yvonne said, and she turned the laptop around. Rose was on the screen, with a white overcoat over her blue sweater, sitting next to a intelligent-looking Indian man. He knew she'd never last five minutes without wandering.

"Nope, never seen her before in my life," he lied, to see what they would do.

"Good," Yvonne said, smiling. "Then we can have her shot."

The Doctor sighed, not trying to look too horrified. "Fine, then," he said, swinging his feet down from the desk. "That's - that's Rose Tyler." He waved at the blonde on the screen.

_"Sorry,"_ she said back, and he smiled as a token of forgiveness.

"I thought you said she was at her mother's?" Yvonne said.

"Well, I lied. I didn't know who you people were and I didn't want Rose to get in the thick of it. Where is she?" The Doctor loosely explained. Now that Rose's presence was out in the open, he wanted her by his side as soon as possible, preferably now.

"You'll see her in due time," Yvonne said, turning the laptop back to face her.

"No, I want to see her now," the Doctor ordered.

"And as your captor, Doctor, I'm refusing."

Suddenly a whirring noise came from the room next door, followed by the mechanical voice. "Ghost shift online."

Yvonne ripped open the door and ran through to the ghost shift room. "I thought I said ghost shift offline!" she yelled, looking around at the six people who were paying no attention to her. She walked up to one woman. "Adeola! Stop! Gareth!" She looked around wildly. "It's like they're robots! Addy!" she said, waving a hand in front of Adeola's face. She ran to the next man. "Matt!" Yvonne repeated the action, but to now avail.

The Doctor had had enough. He walked up to the woman, Adoela. "She won't hear you," he said to Yvonne. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, pointing the Sonic Screwdriver at her earpiece. Adeola screamed, as did Matt and the other four workers before slumping on their desks.

"What did you do?" Yvonne screamed, shaking Matt's shoulder. "You killed them!" she pointed an accusing finger at the Doctor.

"No," he said gravely. "They were dead long before I did anything - long before we arrived here today. It's their earpieces."

"But they're just standard comms devices - how did they kill them?" Yvonne demanded.

"I've seen this before. On another world ... another universe," the Doctor said, before looking at the computers; they were still working. "We're going into ghost shift. Can't you stop it?" he said to Yvonne, who was paying no attention to him.

"What are they?" she said, grabbing hold of Addy's ear-piece.

"Leave them alone, trust me," the Doctor said, going over to Matt's computer.

Yvonne pulled the ear-piece and pulled it right out of her head - and attached to it was a long, thin tube of brain tissue.

"Urgh! Oh, god! It goes inside their brain!" Yvonne said, disgusted. She dropped the ear-piece, looking as though she was about to be sick.

"What about the ghost shift?" the Doctor said, again, and finally Yvonne paid attention to him.

"Ninety percent there. Can't you stop it?" she said, typing furiously as she tried to override it, with no luck.

"They're still controlling it, they've hijacked the system."

"Who's _they_?"

The Doctor ignored her, instead taking out the sonic screwdriver and laying it flat against his palm. "There might be a remote transmitter somewhere. I can trace it, it's gotta be close by," he said, darting away, Yvonne following him; neither of them notice Yvonne's laptop beeping, the words 'SPHERE ACTIVE' running across the screen.

* * *

Rose and Rajesh were currently trying to decide which was a better idea; run or hide.

The sphere was opening and there was nothing no-one could do about it. Another man ran into the room with a clipboard.

"Samuel!" Rajesh's voice was full of relief. "What have you got?" he snatched the clipboard off Samuel and read the readouts.

"Nothing yet, Sir." A rough South London accent that Rose knew very well came from Samuel. She turned around from the Sphere and saw someone she never thought she'd see again in her life.

Mickey.

Her eyes lit up as she looked at her former boyfriend. Mickey winked and raised a finger to his lips.

"Yvonne!" Rajesh yelled into the laptop as the Sphere Chamber shook with the force of the Sphere. "For God's sake Yvonne, it's active! It has mass, weight, density, and electromagnetic field, everything! It exists! YVONNE!"

A sliding noise caught Rose and Mickey's attention - the door was sealing on it's own. Rajesh ran up to it, abandoning the laptop. He groaned in defeat.

"Automatic quarantine - we're sealed in! With whatever is in there!"

"It's all right, babe. We beat them before, we can beat them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on," Mickey said, grabbing a gun that was propped up against the wall.

"The fight against what?" Rose said.

"What do you think?" Mickey said, never taking his eyes off the Sphere.

* * *

"What's down here then?" the Doctor said, following the sonic screwdriver's beeping.

"Nothing - just renovation work," Yvonne explained as they made their way through the curtained area.

"I think you should go back," the Doctor said.

"No way. This is my Torchwood, I want to know what's going inside it. What's down here? What's going on?"

"Ear-pieces, ear-pods. This world is colliding with another one and I know exactly which one," the Doctor said, as shadows became visible through the curtains.

"What are they?" Yvonne said, taking a step towards the Doctor.

"They came through first. The Advanced Guard."

The shadows turned into metal - they slit the curtains with their metal hands.

"Cybermen."

* * *

"The Cybermen found a way through," Mickey explained to Rose, "but so did we. So we followed. And whatever is in that Sphere - Cyberleader, Cyber King, Cyber Controller - he's dead meat."

"The Doctor said travelling between the worlds is impossible," Rose said.

"It's not the first time he's been wrong."

The Sphere crashed again.

"It's good to see you Mickey, even if we are about to die."

"Don't say that. I'll get you out. And it's good to see you too," Mickey replied, as the top part of the Sphere opened a plunger-looking Cyberman exited.

"That's not a Cyberman ..." Rose said, as the full shape of four Daleks came out of the Sphere. Their eyes swivelled as they look in the room's three occupants.

"Location: Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate! Exterminate!! EXTERMINATE!!"

* * *

**laughs evilly ... mwah ha ha ha ha!**


	12. It's A Doomsday Situation

**It's A Doomsday Situation ...**

**bonsoir! Finally, Doomsday. At long last, I hear some of you say. :) **

**it's a long chapter and I've tried to keep it as compact as possible. Which didn't really work.**

**Any sections that ****have been missed out is because they are exactly as they are in the ****episode/not relevent **

**to my AU story. Jackie and Pete are not in this deliberately****- I didn't forget them, or anything. Warning; some cursing invloved.**

* * *

"Daleks!"

The four aliens stopped in their path, stalks moving from one human face to another for the source of the voice. Which turned out to be the female.

"You're called Daleks. How can that be? A human that knows your name. And the Time War," Rose said, shrugging off the white lab coat. "If you wanna know how I know this, then keep me and my friends alive, that's all I ask."

"Yeah, Daleks, Time War," Mickey added, pointing his gun at the four Daleks.

"Yeah, me too," Rajesh said.

One of the Daleks - who was clearly the leader - swivelled around, facing Rose. "You will be necessary," it said, and swivelled back around to another Dalek. "What is the status of the Genesis Ark?" it asked.

"Status - hibernation," it replied.

"I thought you killed all the Daleks when you opened the TARDIS," Mickey whispered to Rose.

"I did, but never mind that - what in the name of God is a Genesis Ark?"

"Why you lookin' at me, I have no idea."

"There is only one person who'd know and he's ... well, God knows, really," Rose said, sighing.

"Fat lot of help you two are," Mickey joked, nudging Rose.

"Oi, I stopped them from killing us straight away, did I?" Rose retorted.

"Yeah, you did."

"But I do get the feeling that even if I hadn't said that, they wouldn't have killed us anyway. They need us for something, and that something has got to do with that Gensis Ark," Rose deduced, reminding herself of that time back in Dame Kelly Holmes Close. So long ago, now. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, and sighed.

* * *

The Cybermen were definitely taking over the world. Undoubtably.

The Doctor didn't fancy being a Cyberman. It didn't look as though it was the comfiest metal suit in the universe. Even the metal skin - he wouldn't want that. He still hadn't been ginger yet.

"You will talk to your central world authority and order surrender," a Cyberman said to Yvonne, who for her credit, answered back without a hint of fear.

"Do some research, you hunk of metal, we don't have a central world authority."

"You have now. I will speak on all global wavelengths," the Cyberman said, before turning to a camera. "This message is for human kind ..."

The Doctor tuned him out, putting on his 3D specs. As some would call them. But in reality, they allowed him to see the background radiation that came with coming through the void. He whipped them off quickly, though, at the sight of what was happening in London below. Yvonne turned as well, gasping. The whole of London seemed ablaze - people were bombing, shooting, physically resisiting the Cybermen authority. The Cyberman joined them.

"I ordered surrender."

"They're not taking instructions," the Doctor said incredulusly, before he started to get angry. "Don't you understand? You're in their streets, in their homes. You've got their children! Of course they're gonna fight. And on that fighting note, I'm going to see Rose, and no Torchwood nor Cyberman can stop me," the Doctor finished off dramatically, and would have been an astounded victory if he hadn't suddenly been surrounded by Cybermen, and escape routes or plans of action foiled. He sighed in defeat. "Worth a try, though," he added sheepishly, not trying anything brash - these monsters would delete him without a second thought and he didn't fancy leaving Rose to become a Cyberman. Jackie might just kill him for that.

* * *

Back in the Sphere Chamber, things weren't faring any bettter.

"Which of you is the least important?" the head Dalek asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose said.

"Which of you is least important?" the Dalek repeated his question.

"Nah, you see, we don't work like that," Rose said angrily. "None of us."

"Designate the least important!" the Dalek demanded.

"This is my responsiblity," Rajesh said suddenly. He'd been so quiet Rose had forgotten he was there.

"No, don't!" she said, trying to hold him back. Rajesh ignored her and stood before the Dalek.

"I represente the Torchwood Institute ... leave those two alone. You deal with me and me only."

"You will kneel," Dalek Sec said, as two other Daleks glided forward. One stayed to attend to the Gensis Ark.

"What for?" Rajesh asked.

"Kneel! The Daleks need information about current Earth history."

"Well, I can tell you anything but nothing that will comprimise Home Land security," Rajesh rambled, before being cut off by Dalek Sec.

"Speech is not necessary," he screeched. Rajesh looked confused and fearful. "We will extract brainwaves."

"You don't need ... I'll tell you anything you need ... no, no!" Rajesh screamed his final word as the Dalek plungers crushed his skull. Rose dug her head into Mickey's shoulder to aviod looking, feeling terribly sick for the second time that day. At least this time she had a feeling she wasn't going to be sick.

Eventually the Daleks let Rajesh's corpse fall to the ground. Mickey drew it away and tucked it in a corner out of respect for the dead man.

"His mind spoke of a second species invading Earth under the supersition of ghosts."

"Yeah, well, you didn't need to kill him to find that out!" Rose said angrily, pointing at the place where Rajesh had landed.

"Neither did we need him alive. You have knowledge of the Time War. You will be kept alive," Dalek Sec turned to Dalek Thay. "Dalek Thay - investigate outside."

"I obey," Dalek Thay said, gliding away.

* * *

"Scans detect unknown technology active within Sphere Chamber," a Cybermen suddenly said, and the Doctor's hearts skipped a beat. Rose?

"Cybermen shall investigate," another said, and talked to two others. "Units 1066 and 1066 will investigate."

"We obey." They chorused, and walked away briskly.

It was a few minutes before the Cybermen reported back. "Open visual link," the one standing beside the Doctor said. The area of the corridor beside the Sphere Chamber appeared on the screen of Yvonne's laptop, and they all gathered around to watch. A Dalek glided into view, and the Doctor drew in a sharp breath that caught Yvonne's attention. Rose had said earlier 'it couldn't be worse than Daleks' and it was - Daleks were there. This made him worry more for Rose.

"Identify yourselves," Dalek Thay said, plunger on Cybermen.

"You will identify first," one of the Cybermen answered back.

"Daleks do not take orders!"

"You have identified as Daleks," the Cyberman said.

"Outline resembles the inferior species known as Cybermen."

The Doctor had had enough of this and from his suit jacket pocket withdrew the mobile phone Rose had persuaded him to buy. She had asked him to buy it incase of emergancy. Which turned out to be right now. He dialled Rose's number frantically, getting a few wrong in his hurry, and mashed the phone against his ear, willing for her to pick up. Finally she answered. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief even though she didn't speak. He heard the remain Daleks talking through the phone.

_"We must protect the Genesis Ark."_

"The Genesis Ark?" the Doctor muttered to himself, slipping on his 3D specs and staring at the laptop once more. He did not hear the rest of the conversation until one sentence stood out.

"You propose an alliance?" Dalek Thay said, and the Doctor drew once again a worried breath.

"This is correct."

"Request denied."

"Hostile elements will be deleted," the Cybermen choursed. "Open visual link." It turned around. "Daleks be warned: You have declared war upon the Cybermen."

"This is not war, this is pest control."

"We have five million Cybermen, how many are you?"

"Four."

"You would would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks!?"

"We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek. You are only superior in only one respect."

"What is that?"

"You are better at dying." In retort, the Cybermen aimed their lasers at the Daleks; but the Dalek's laser brought both of them down in three seconds flat.

"Quarentine the Sphere Chamber. Start emergancy upgrade. Begin with these personnel," the lead Cyberman said, pushing Yvonne in front of him. He went to grab the Doctor to but he was held back. "This ones increased aldreneline suggests he has vital Dalek information."

Yvonne got lead away kicking and screaming, yelling something about doing her duty. It would be the last time she would ever be human, but if he was being frank, the Doctor had bigger fish to fry than Yvonne Hartman; Rose was quarentined in a chamber with four Daleks. Not exactly the type of doomsday situation the Doctor was happy with - not that he was really happy with any doomsday situation, but Rose and Daleks in the same room was his worst nightmare.

* * *

"Raise communications barrier!" Dalek Jast said, before stopping. "Wait! Rewind image by nine rells."

The Doctor's image, pacing on the screen, came into view. Rose couldn't help the smile that came over her face. They hadn't killed him, he was still alive!

The Daleks zoomed in on him. "This male registers as enemy," Dalek Jast said.

Dalek Sec whirled around to face Rose. "The female's heartbeat has increased."

"Tell me about it," Mickey said, as Rose flushed and gently elbowed him.

"You will idenitify the male."

"All right then ... if you really wanna know?" Rose challenged. "He's the Doctor."

Rose smirked broadly as the Daleks drew back sharply. Even Mickey seemed impressed, and looked at Rose with a small amount of awe.

"Five million Cybermen? Easy. One Doctor? Now you're scared," she continued, the smirk never leaving her face.

Dalek Thay rolled forwards. "Cyber threat irrevelent," he squealed. "Concentrate on the Genesis Ark." The four Daleks once again left Rose and Mickey to tend to the Genesis Ark.

"Why are we being kept alive?" Mickey asked Rose quietly, so the Daleks could not hear.

"They might need me," Rose said, just as quietly.

"What? What is it? Why would they need you?"

Rose's only answer was to stare at the four Daleks fearfully. She wished the Doctor would get here soon - because it wasn't only herself she had to care for now.

* * *

The Doctor sat on a windowsill in silence, looking at the war-torn, tattered city that was once London. It would get back on it's feet again, if it survived. And the Dcotor would do anything in his power to do so. Jackie was still out there - and had phoned his phone eight times. He couldn't answer, that would have put her in danger; and even though the Doctor could kill Jackie Tyler sometimes, but she was still Rose's mother, and she had taken the alienation of her daughter remarkable well. Sometimes he could even imagine getting alone with her, as he did last time he was at the Tyler's. Jackie was slowly but surely warming to him, and he be damned if he was letting Jackie Tyler die on him. He once again pulled out his phone - again thanking Rose mentally for making him buy it - and dialled Jackie's number. It rang thirteen times before Jackie picked up, whispering into the phone.

_"Doctor! Oh, my God, the ghosts aren't ghosts they're metal men - "_

"Jackie! Jackie!" the Doctor said quietly, relief evident in his voice, into the phone to try and distract Jackie. "I know, they're Cybermen."

_"Those things you met in the other world?"_ Jackie asked, remembering a distraught Rose telling her about Mickey going somewhere else to help fight these Cybermen things.

"Yeah."

_"How's Rose? Is she safe? Can I speak to 'er?"_

"She's fine. She's perfectly safe. You can't speak to her, I'm sorry. But she's safe as long as she with me," the Doctor said, only telling small white lies. "How are you?"

_"I'm fine. I'm under the bed - the Zybermen things took Betty and Mike next door. They searched my house but they don't think anyone's in. So I'm sorta hidin' until you sort this out. You are gonna sort this out, aren't cha, Doctor?"_ Jackie demanded, but the fear of being caught by the Cybermen was clear in her voice.

"I will sort this out, Jackie. I give you my word," he said, turely sorry for what Jackie was going through. "I'm going to have to go, Jackie - "

_"Don't go! Please! The Zybermen things will get me!"_

"If I don't go, I'll never sort it out!" the Doctor said. "Right, stay where you are unless completely necessary. Please, Jackie, don't go outside, don't even move around the flat unless you absolutely have to. Don't go on the phone unless it's to me or Rose. Phone if anything happens. I'll sort all this mess out. I'll tell Rose you're all right."

_"Thanks, Doctor. I don't think there is any more around 'ere, but I'll stay 'ere. Give my love to Rose. See ya soon."_ Jackie's voice was shaky.

"Bye, Jackie." the Doctor snapped his phone shut, holding it under his chin for a moment before glancing outside at London. The fact that Jackie was still alive gave him a little more incentative to fix this whole mess. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't hear a Cyberman approach him, a considerable feat considering the weight of one.

"You are proof," it said, looking down at the Doctor.

"Of what?" the Doctor wasn't in the mood to talk. He wanted to find Rose.

"That emotions destroy you."

"Yeah, I am, I guess," the Doctor said, snorting lightly. "Mind you, I do like hope. Hope's a good emotion. And here it comes!" He finished his sentence as five figures appeared out of thin air, armed with guns; they immediately shot all the Cybermen in the room. The Doctor ducked and hid under Yvonne's desk as the Cyberman who was standing beside him got blashed into a million pieces.

One of the figures turned to the Doctor, who had straightened up. "Doctor - good to see you again." The Doctor looked on puzzled before the figure took off his helmet, and the Doctor gasped.

"Jake?" he said incredulusly. Jake was meant to be stuck on a parallel world, with Mickey and alternate Pete. And the Cybermen.

"The Cybermen crossed from our world into yours, and so can we," Jake said proudly, as the Doctor looked on, looking more concerned than pleased at Jake's arrival. The Doctor slipped on his 3D specs to assess the group. Jake looked to his team. "Defend this room. Chrissie, monitor communications. Kill one Cyberman and they just download into another. Move!" The group scattered obediantly.

The Doctor whipped off his glasses, staring at Jake. "You can't just - just - just hop from one world to another! You just can't!"

"We just did. With these." Jake held up circular, yellow buttons. "We have our own version of Torchwood. Wanna come see?"

"NO!" the Doctor said, and Jake took a step back. "Okay then," he said, putting the yellow button back into his jacket.

* * *

Around the same time, Mickey was showing Rose his yellow button.

"I could transport out of here, but it only carries one, and I'm not leaving you," he explained, as Rose turned the button over in her hands.

"You'd follow me anywhere, wouldn't you? What did I do to you all those years ago?"

"Guess I'm just stupid," Mickey shrugged.

"You're the bravest man I've ever met," Rose said, taking his hands in her own and squeezing them. They felt unfamiliar in her hands, hands used to the Doctor's touch now.

"What about the Doctor? He may be an alien but as far as I can tell he's still a man."

"Oh, all right - bravest human I've ever met," Rose amended. They smiled at each other before turning around to look at the Daleks, hard at work on the Genesis Ark.

"I can't think what the Daleks would need with me," Mickey said. "I'm nothin' to them."

"You could be ... whatever's inside that Ark is waking up. I've seen this happen before." Rose shivered. "First time I saw a Dalek, it was broken, dying. I touched it and ithat touch brought it back to life."

"Huh?" Mickey grunted, confused.

"When you travel in time in the TARDIS, you soak up all this ... background radiation. It's harmless, it's just sort of there. But during the Time War, the Daleks evolved so they could use this background radiation as a power supply."

"I love it when you talk technical," Mickey said, gazing at her.

"Shut up," Rose said sharply. "If the Daleks have got something in that Ark that needs waking up ... "

"They need you," Mickey finished.

"Either of us. You've travelled in time too."

"Why would they build something they can't open themselves?" Mickey asked. Dalek Sec suddenly span around, interjecting.

"The technology was stolen. The Ark is not of Dalek design."

After a few moments shock, Rose was the first to speak. "Who built it then?"

"The Time Lords. This is all that remains of their home world."

"What's in it?"

"The future."

Mickey and Rose looked at each other, then at the Daleks; they were spinning around the Genesis Ark. Both of their faces had fearful apprehention splashed across it. If this was Time Lord technology then this was much, much worse than they had thought.

* * *

"Now then Jakey-boy, if I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it could work on polycarbide." Jake nodded, but the expression on his face clearly stated that he didn't understand a word the Doctor was saying. He handed the gun over to the Doctor without a word.

"What's polycarbide?" Jake asked.

"The skin of a Dalek," the Doctor answered, smiling. He dropped the gun on the desk. "But there is something I have to do first ... " he trailed off, looking around the office for something. "Ah-ha!" he said finally, grabbing a piece of paper and sellotaped three pencils together, before sellotaping the sheet of A4 to the pencils. "I'm going to look for some Cybermen. Stay here and keep your head down. Allons-y!" the Doctor ran off, leaving a confused Jake staring at the spot where he'd been.

The Doctor found the two Cybermen around two minutes later, down four flights of stairs and around a corner. He hid behind the corner and stuck out the sheet off A4, waving it comically like a flag. "Sorry!" he said. The Cybermen noticed, and spun around the face them.

"No white flag. I could only find a sheet of A4. Same difference." he said, bouncing up and down on his heels.

The Cybermen held their fists before him, ready to shoot. "Do you surrender?" one of them said, not moving.

"I surrender, unto you," the Doctor said, walking to his was nose-to-nose with the Cyberman, "a very good idea." the Doctor beamed.

* * *

The Daleks were still spinning around the Genesis Ark ten minutes later. Mickey's arms were frankly getting sore, pointing this gun at them.

"Final stage of awakening," Dalek Caan said, making the two humans jump.

Dalek Sec turned to Rose. "Your handprint will open the Ark."

Rise crossed her arms over her chest. "Well tough, 'cos I'm not doing it."

Dalek Sec pointing the laser at Mickey. "Do it, or the male will die."

Rose immediately stepped forward to the Ark, no hesistation in her step. Even though she didn't love Mickey the way she had done, or maybe even in the way he loved her, she still couldn't bear to see him dead. Mickey tried to hold her back, but she pushed his arm away. "I can't let them."

"Rose, don't."

"Place your hand upon the casket," Dalek Sec repeated.

"All right!" Rose said violently. "You're going to kill us anyway, so what the hell?" Rose smiled slightly, before turning back to Dalek Sec and facing towards him. "But if you ... um ... escaped the Time War ... don't you wanna know what happened?"

"Place your hand - "

"What happened to the Emperor?" Rose said, cutting over the top of Dalek Sec.

"The Emperor survived?" Dalek Sec asked.

"'Til he met me ... 'cos if these are gonna be my last words, then you're gonna listen," she said, pointing at Dalek Sec's eyepiece. "I met the Emperor. And I took the Time Vortex and poured it into his head and turned him into dust. Did you get that? The God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him!" she gloated, smiling broadly at Dalek Sec.

"You will be exterminated!" Dalek Sec said furiously, pointing his laser at Rose, ready to fire.

"Oh now, hold on, wait a minute!" a new voice chimed, and all heads looked to the doorway, where the Doctor was standing, 3D specs on.

"Alert, alert - you are the Doctor," Dalek Sec said, abandoning Rose and turning towards the Doctor.

Rose beamed brightly as the Doctor strolled into the room, as if they weren't surrounded by four deadly Daleks. The Doctor beamed back.

"Sensors report he is unarmed," Dalek Thay said.

"That's me - always."

"Then you are powerless."

"Not me. Never!" the Doctor said, walking up to Rose. He gave her a hug, which she returned, before giving her a kiss. Mickey looked shocked for all of five miliseconds before jealously took over as the dominant emotion. He didn't act on it; now was not the time. Hopefully the Doctor would help them all out of this mess and Mickey could punch him then.

"How are you?" the Doctor asked after they pulled away.

"Ah, you know, same old," Rose replied, keeping an arm secured around his waist, as if to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

"And Mickey-McMickey! Nice to see you," the Doctor said cheerily, as if he hadn't snogged Mickey's ex-girlfriend in front of him.

Mickey buried down the jealously to smile. "You too, boss," he said as they smashed fists like old friends.

"Social interaction will cease!" Dalek Sec said.

"Ohh, you spoilsport," the Doctor teased, but kept an arm around Rose's shoulder.

"How did you survive the Time War?"

"By fighting," the Doctor said, his face instantly turning solemn. Rose leaned into him, giving support. He looked down at her gratefully, but never said a word. "On the front line. I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot - ran away!"

"We had to survive." Dalek Sec answered the unasked question.

"Why? What makes you so special?"

"Doctor, they've got names," Rose said in a low voice, looking up at the Doctor. He caught her gaze. "Daleks don't have names, do they?"

"I am Dalek Thay."

"Dalek Sec."

"Dalek Jast."

"Dalek Caan."

"So that's it!" the Doctor said, seemingly delighted. "Finally ... the Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."

"Who are they?" Rose asked.

"A secret order. Cult-like, very select. Hence the name. They are - or were - above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine, to think as the enemy thinks. They even dared to have names, something the Daleks had never done." His expression turned from delight at finding the Cult to disgust. "All to find new ways of killing."

"But that thing, that Ark, they said it was yours. Time Lords'. What is it? What does it do?" Mickey asked impatiently.

"I don't know. Never seen it before."

"But it's ... Time Lord," Rose said in fustration, relflecting Mickey's view.

"Both sides had secrets," the Doctor said, looking down at Rose, before looking at the Daleks. "What is it? What have you done?" he asked them, his tone harsh and rough compared to the way he'd softly spoken to Rose.

"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy."

"What's that supposed to mean? What sort of Time Lord science?"

"They said one touch from a time traveller would wake it up," Rose said softly.

"Technology using the only thing Daleks can't do. Touch. Trapped inside your casing, never touching, never feeling. From birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage," the Doctor said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Completely alone. And that explains your voice. No wonder you scream." The Doctor knew he was taunting the Daleks.

"The Doctor will open the Ark!" Dalek Sec said, gliding towards him.

He threw back his head and laughed loudly, causing Rose to jerk slightly away, the shout being right in her ear. "The Doctor will not!" he said once he recovered, giving Rose a subtle squeeze in apology that Mickey didn't miss.

"You have no way of resisting," Dalek Sec said.

"Well ... you've got me there," the Doctor said, scratching behind his ear. "Although ... they is always this." he pulled out the sonic screwdriver from his inside pocket.

"A sonic probe?" Dalek Sec said, almost jeering.

"That's sonic screwdriver, actually," Rose butted in with a smile. The Doctor looked down at her affectionately.

"It is harmless," Dalek Sec annouced.

"Oh yes, it is harmless, that's why I like it," the Doctor said, spinning the sonic around in his fingers. "Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim. But I'll tell you something - it is good, very good, at opening doors." With that statement said he activated the sonic screwdriver, and the doors immediately imploded inwards, and Jake and his team, with Cybermen, bounded in with guns. The Doctor, Rose and Mickey had thrown themselves on the floor to aviod the blast.

"Delete! Delete! Delete!" the Cybermen said as they fired lasers.

"Get yourself out of here!" the Doctor yelled at Mickey. "Keep your head down!" the Doctor threw himself over Rose to protect her from the lasers from Cybermen and Daleks alike, both shooting to kill.

"Fire power insufficant!" Dalek Sec said.

Mickey picked up a gun and started firing. The Doctor had got himself and Rose out the door and into the corridor.

"Mickey, come on!" Rose urged. Jake grabbed Mickey and headed for the door, but Mickey stumbled; Rose gasped as the Daleks' weaponry adapted and was starting to kill again. Mickey used the Genesis Ark to help himself up, leaving a handprint mark.

"Genesis Ark primed and mobile!" Dalek Sec said, as steam poured out the egdes of the Ark.

Mickey ran for the door as Jake and the Doctor pulled him through, the door closing seconds later, trapping the Cybermen and Daleks inside. Mickey winced in pain as he looked at his hand.

"I'm sorry I touched it, I just fell, I didn't mean it!"

"Mickey, you did us a favour," the Doctor said, still running with Rose hand clasped tightly in his. "If you hadn't done that they would have opened it by force, and that would mean blowing up the sun. So thanks! Now, run!" The team ran down a corridor until they got to a warehouse.

"I need something from in here. Now, everyone away, go and hide on the staircase."

"I'll stay and cover your back," Rose offered, and the Doctor nodded. Everyone else went upstairs.

"Right, on three," the Doctor said, and they counted down silently together. After they got to three, the Doctor threw himself threw the door, as Rose poked her head around. Daleks and Cybermen were battling it out, still.

The Doctor, keeping his head down, ran to the other side of the room and got to magnaclamps. He used them on the way back to deflect the Dalek's and Cyberman's rays from himself. Rose breathed a sigh on relief as he appeared safe, before tripping over a dead Cyberman. "Shit," she swore under her breath. "Come on, please!" He jumped up two seconds, wobbly grin on his face, and raced to the door.

"Here," he said, setting down the magnaclamps and resting his hands on his knees. "I've got to go back in. There were only three Cybermen left. They'll all be down now. I need to see what the Daleks are doing." He slipped the 3D specs on a peeped around the door, keeping inconspicuous. Rose slid her head under his, so they looked like floating heads.

"The Cybermen have been defeated," Dalek Sec annouced. "Override roof mechanism." The roof slide open, a quiet alarm buzzing.

"El-ev-ate."

"What are they doing? Why do they need to go outside?" Rose asked, alarmed.

"Time Lord science, they said, didn't they?" the Doctor asked, as Rose looked up at him and nodded. "What Time Lord science?" he took his 3D specs off. "What is it?"

Dalek Sec and the Ark elevated through the ceiling and out of view. The Doctor and Rose withdrew their heads, identical baffled expressions on their faces. They ran back and reached the rest of the group.

"Right! Top floor! Come on!" he said, bounding towards the stairs.

"I ain't doing forty-five floors. That'll kill me!" Mickey said, crossing his arms.

"We could always use the lift ... " Jake suggested, as the lift pinged.

All of them smiled at Jake and piled into the lift, to meet their fate at the top of Torchwood Tower.

* * *

The Doctor was first out the lift, and dumped the two magnaclamps on Yvonne's desk as he raced to the window. Everyone else wasn't far behind.

Dalek Sec and the Genesis Ark were level with the group. The Ark span around, as Dalek after Dalek shot out of it.

The Doctor had a horrifed expression on his face, and his voice matched. "Time Lord science ... it's bigger on the inside."

"Did the Time Lords put them in there? What for?" Mickey asked, so close to the window his breath steamed it up slightly.

"It's a prison ship," the Doctor answered. Without even asking, just by his voice, Rose could tell this wasn't good news. She slid her hand into his as a source of comfort, and she felt his squeeze on it slightly.

"How many Daleks?" she asked the inevitable.

The Doctor drew a deep breath before answering. "Millions."

"So, a little bit more than four, then?" Mickey joked, but a harsh glare from Rose shut him up fast.

"Yeah, a little more than four. But, I think, well, I have a vague idea ... more a sketchy plan, if I'm honest ... of how to stop them," the Doctor said, a small smile on his face. He wasn't entirely sure if this was going to work, and it was terribly far-fetched, but as of right now, it was they only plan they had.

"What do we need to do?" Rose asked, enthusastic.

"Right. First things first - I'm disappointed in you lot. None of you have asked one simple question, 'what's with the glasses?'" he said, pointing to the 3D specs he was still wearing.

"Doctor, what _is_ with the glasses?" Rose said, slightly concerned. "As far I as can tell none of us are in 3D ... "

"I can see!" he exclaimed, running up to Rose and handing her the glasses. She slipped them on, oohing and aahing about what she saw.

"Can you see that?" the Doctor asked, coming in front of Rose's vision and waving a hand. "It's Void Stuff!"

"That a technical term, 'Void Stuff?'" Rose teased.

The Doctor stuck out his tongue. "Yes, Miss Tyler. Very technical indeed."

"It is like ... background radiation?" Rose asked, clicking her fingers.

"Yeah, more or less," the Doctor said, seemingly impressed by Rose's quick grasping of radiation. "Everyone who's been through the Void has it. The Cybermen, the Daleks - "

"And us," Rose finished. The Doctor nodded.

"So we just open the Void, and everything covered with Void Stuff its attracted to it. Like paper and glue. Via the Void. I like that, Via the Void! And so they'll be exposed to the Void, and the Void's energy likes Void Stuff - "

"Pulling them all in!" Rose said, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Pulling them all in!" the Doctor repeated, doing his little 'celebrate - i've got a cunning plan' dance than always got a giggle from Rose.

"What about us?" Mickey said, and Rose and the Doctor jumped - they'd forgotten he and Jake were there. "Me and Jake 'ave got Void Stuff too. We'll get pulled in beside the Daleks and Cybermen."

"No, you won't. Because I'm only opening it on this side. You bounce back to your world with your buttons and you'll be safe there. Maybe even take Rose with you," the Doctor said.

Rose laughed. "Yeah, I ain't leaving you. Imagine what Mum would say?" she said, feiging worriedness terribly.

"Good point," the Doctor said, nodding. "So Jake and Mickey go back to their world. And we open the Void on this side. There shouldn't be any trouble at your end."

"But the thing is, Doctor," Mickey said, "the whole reason I volunteered for this expedition was so that I could get back. I hated that world - no offence, Jake - and I wanted to come back."

"You want to stay on this world?" the Doctor said. "I can only open the Void once. Once I open it, the breech has to be closed again. Forever." Mickey nodded slowly, as Rose gasped. Jake didn't look surprised - evidently this was something Mickey had mentioned before.

"Yeah, I really do," Mickey said. He looked immesely happy at the thought. "That other world was great, but it didn't really feel like home to me."

The Doctor nodded, doing some fast thinking. "I've only got two magnaclamps. One for me, one for Rose. I need her here to help me open the Void. You'll have to stay in the TARDIS, in the Zero Room. Once your in the TARDIS, she'll direct you too it. Safest place in the universe, nothing can get in. If you even come out that room, there's a chance you'll be sucked in. Got that?" the Doctor rambled off instructions at one hundred miles an hour. It was a wonder Rose knew what he was saying half the time.

It took Mickey a few moments to process the instructions. He nodded firmly, his decision made. Mickey strode up to Jake and smiled. "See you later, mate," he said roughly, giving Jake a one-armed manly hug.

Jake returned it. "You too, mate. I know how much ya wanna stay, so I'm going to let you go." Jake let go and picked up his gun, smiled, and pressed his yellow button and went back home.

"Right, to the TARDIS. See you guys soon," Mickey said, and bounded off to the TARDIS.

The Doctor turned to Rose. "Just me and you, then!" he said, and rushed over to a computer, indicating Rose was to go to the one next to it. "Switch all those settings to 6.5."

Rose did as she was told, although she was slower than the Doctor. By the time she was finished, he was securing the magnaclamps to the wall.

"Right, then. Let's open that Void then!" Rose said, as they rushed to pull the levers.

"Ghost shift online," the mechanical voice said, as the Doctor and Rose ran and grabbed onto their magnaclamps. The window shattered as Daleks and Cybermen came flying in, the Void Stuff on them attracted to the Void.

"And in they go!" the Doctor yelled over the wind, as Rose grinned back at him. "Whoo hoo!" He ducked to avoid a Dalek as it zoomed over his head.

"Via the Void!" Rose shouted, but her attention was turned as a mechanical voice boomed out.

"Ghost shift offline."

"Shit," Rose said, trying to strain her arm to reach the lever. If the ghost shift went offline now, half the Daleks and Cybermen would still be trapped on this Earth.

"Rose! Leave it!" the Doctor said, as Rose reached further and further. Her grip on the magnaclamp shifted, and the Doctor open his mouth to scream.

Rose let go of the magnaclamp but somehow managed to grab onto the lever instead, trying in vain to push in into position again. She was struggling against wind and the Doctor knew she was fighting a loosing battle.

"Rose! Hold on!" the Doctor yelled in horror, as Rose's grip once again loosened on the lever. Her hands were so sweaty, but she had to hold on ... just a few more moments ... but it was no use.

She took a deep breath, and her hands slipped off, the leather handle of the lever disappearing as she flew towards to Void. She could hear the Doctor screaming her name and just screaming in general, and she looked to him, her hands outstretched ...

The Doctor looked at Rose in horror as she fell, her hands stretched towards him. She was falling to her death and the Doctor had never felt more helpless, the only thought in his head was that he never told her he loved her ... he found that he couldn't look as Rose got closer to the Void.

This was it, this was the end. The end of everything. The end of Rose.

Thunk.

The wind died down, as the Doctor felt his feet find the floor; apparently the breech had been closed. The Doctor couldn't open his eyes to a world without his Rose. With his Rose trapped in the Void, in hell, the place in between, purgitory -

Was that someone groaning?

The Doctor opened his eyes out of shock, and nearly fainted at what he saw; Rose in a heap on the floor. She'd obviously just missed the breech. He whooped with glee as he ran to her, dropping to his knees beside her.

"Rose?" he asked tentively, still not sure if he was dreaming or if this was reality. If this was dreaming, he'd quite happily dream forever.

"Ughhh," Rose groaned, not opening her eyes. "My side and head hurts like hell. I think I hit the wall," she breathed, barely conscious.

"Don't speak, you're going to make it worse," the Doctor finally managed to say, stroking her hair. He was glad she had her eyes closed, for joyous tears were streaming down his face. "I'm gonna check you out at the TARDIS, okay?" he said, and Rose nodded weakly, her head lolling to the side; she'd slipped over the egde into unconsciousness.

He picked Rose up easily, her nimble frame light in his arms. He carried her to the TARDIS, the doors opening for him right away. He thanked her silently.

"Keep Mickey in the Zero Room until I say so," he said, taking Rose straight to the TARDIS Infrimary for a scan. The TARDIS put it right next to the Console Room, obviously sensing Rose's urgent need for medical attention.

The Doctor didn't thank the TARDIS this time; no doubt she could sense his gratitude. He set Rose down gently, and ran various scanners over her. Slight concussion, bruised ribs, tissue a little bruised around and stomach, baby was fine -

Baby?!

The Doctor scanned Rose once, twice, three times, but each time the result came back the same; Rose was definitely, one hundred percent, without a doubt, undeniably pregnant.

Ahh.

Breathing heavily, the Doctor was once again glad that Rose was unconscious for this little scene. Did she know she was pregnant? Was she planning to tell him at all?

Right, he could do this. This wasn't going to be so hard. He and Rose would do it together; the old team, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake. Better with Two. Yeah, they would tackle every hurdle together, and Jackie would be happy to be a grandmother.

Jackie. The first hurdle he and Rose would have to jump. Metaphorically of course, Rose wasn't exactly going to be doing any jumping from now on.

Even though he and Jackie had seemed to be coming to some sort of truce last time he and Rose had visited her, he wasn't sure that Jackie would be jumping for joy at the thought an alien had impregnanted her barely-twenty-one year old daughter. She would kill him! No, she'd torture him first. Make him eat five bowls of her homemade soup. Make him sit through an Eastenders omnibus. Dye his hair pink and red stripes. Castrate him with a pair of eyebrow tweezers.

At the thought of the torture Jackie could inflict on him, the Doctor did faint this time, hitting his head off the side of Rose's bed as he went down.


	13. Second Chances

**Second Chances**

**so sorry I've not been around for a while, was on holiday and (trying) to study for exams.**

**here's the chapter - telling Jackie. and yes, before anyone says, i'm totally making up Rose's birthday,**

**including the year. I do know she was born in 1986, but that doesn't fit well in the story.**

* * *

Rose's eyes met the bright, harsh light and she squinted. Is this what hell was like? She imagined it dark, not light. Or maybe God really did exist and took pity on her and sent her to heaven instead. She made a mental note to thank him. Or her. She'd much rather be here than the Void/Hell, constantly dodging five million Daleks and five million Cybermen all the time. That would be boring and very, very exhausting, she thought.

She flickered her eyes open at the light and found that she wasn't in hell. Or heaven, for that matter. She was in the TARDIS Infirmary. She gasped, and winced at a sharp pain slashed through her side.

The pain in her side brought it all back; she was zooming towards the wall, heading towards hell, the Doctor was screaming her name, the wind too strong for her to battle against ... and then she had hit something with a tremendous amount of force. That was explain the sore side and the dimly throbbing head, then. She remembered a long, stretch of white - a wall. That must have been what she had hit. Then something else went through her mind - if she hit that wall as hard as she though she had, was the baby okay?

Rose sprang upright, and rested a hand on her womb. She couldn't feel anything - was that right? Had she felt anything beforehand? Her head hurt when she tried to think back. She swung her legs over the side of the bed to go and find the Doctor, before she realised he hadn't left the room.

He was on the floor with what was looking like a very nasty cut on his head.

Rose took a moment to take in the silence, looking at the bed and then the Doctor, her slightly concussed brain taking longer than usual to sort out how the nasty cut on his head came to be there.

"Ouch," Rose muttered, jumping so she landed slightly to the right of him. She slid her arms underneath his armpits and tried to pull him up onto the bed. Tried was exactly the word - for such a skinny guy, he sure was heavy.

"Come on," she muttered again, managing to get in top half on the bed, and ran around to left his legs, which was slighly easier. Finally, after much groaning, panting and cursing, the Doctor was lying on the bed Rose had previously occupied; not even stirring as Rose dragged him around, pulling his arms left, right and centre. Rose had a thought - wasn't she not supposed to be doing any heavy-lifting whilst pregnant? That had gone zooming out the window, then. She looked around for some antiseptic and plasters for the Doctor's deep-looking cut when she noticed all the scanners on the floor. So the Doctor knew she was pregnant - that explains the fainting. Although she had hoped to tell him herself.

She tidied up the cut and stuck the Winnie-the-Pooh plaster on his forehead, giggling quietly in thanks at the TARDIS's choice of plaster. Now all there was for him to do was wake up. She considered waking him up herself, before deciding he was the one who'd gotten her pregnant, hormones, sleepless nights and cravings weren't going to cut it. Neither was the Winnie-the-Pooh plaster. Smirking at her plan, she grabbed a empty water bottle from the counter and filled it with freezing cold water, skipping back to the Infirmary where she wasted no time in squirting the water all over the Doctor's face.

He yelped loudly, looking disorentiated for a few moments. He then realised what had happened, and shot a dark look in Rose's direction. "You didn't have to go and do that, a simple shake would have woken me up!" he grumbled, running his hands over his face, before examining his soaking wet hair and shirt. "Honestly, throwing water all over me ... " he muttered, shaking his head to at least try and get rid of the droplets of water. They landed on Rose instead, who squealed as the water hit her. "Now you know how it feels," the Doctor said.

"You didn't have to go and do that, though," Rose pointed out, brushing the droplets away with her hand.

"How are you, anyway?" the Doctor asked, enveloping her in a hug. "You hit that wall pretty hard from what I can tell."

Rose rested her head on his chest and sighed. "I think I'll survive. My side might be bruised, though," she added, rubbing her side.

The Doctor rubbed it as she took her hand away. "Are you sure you don't want me to look it over?" he asked, leaning his cheek on top of hers.

"Nah, it's okay," she whispered. Neither of them was going to bring the baby up, and Rose decided she was going to be 'Bolshy Rose' (as her teenage friends had called her - as she was the one who'd always took the initative) and bring it up herself. "So ... judging by the scanners, I guess you found out my little ... em ... discovery," she said, keeping her eyes closed as she laid her head on his chest, so her voice was slightly muffled.

"Ah. Yeah, kinda," he said, silently deciding that sticking to one-word syllables would be a excellent - no, fantastic - plan for the time being.

"Are you angry? Upset?" Rose asked quietly, loosening her hold on him slightly. Inside, she was terrified he would run away. Run away as fast as he could, holding the hand of someone else and he saved them from shop dummies. All the while she'd be left bringing up their child, telling him or her stories about the times their parents would run for the lives. She'd decided as soon as she'd known that she was pregnant that she was keeping the baby. Getting rid of it was never an option. But she put up the emotional barrier she always put up in these situations - she was a Tyler and she could do this with or without him. Even though she'd be brokenhearted, devestated, and completely torn apart. Her mother had did it - albeit in totally different circumstances - and so could she.

The Doctor pulled back from her sharply, thinking she might be joking. Rose's eyes stayed closed, she didn't trust herself not to cry. She missed the Doctor's horrified look as he looked down at her face, white and slightly tear-stained from the morning's earlier banging-into-a-wall activites, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. He realised she wasn't joking in any shape, form or manner. He then reminded himself that this is what Rose was used to, people desterting her in her time of need. It was what she was brought up around, single parents and living off state benefits, council estates. He was slightly hurt that she thought that of him, but he kept expecting her to announce she was missing her mother too much and wanted to go home, so and eye for an eye as they say. He wanted her to banish that thought immediately - he would never leave her, could never leave her. She simply meant far too much to him, and that part of him that used to tell him off for getting so close to Rose had died when Rose had on Felspoon.

"No," he said firmly. Rose opened her eyes. "I'm not going to leave you, Rose. I wouldn't dream of it. In fact, I don't think I could leave you," he said, as Rose beamed, squeezing him tightly. He returned it, but didn't squeeze her quite as hard.

He rocked Rose gently from side to side. "We're going to have a baby, Rosie!" he sang, and she laughed.

"We're going to have a baby!" she sang back, before pulling back suddenly. "Oh. We'll have to tell Mum, won't we?" Her eyebrows formed to make a singular eyebrow in worry about what Jackie would say.

The Doctor pointed to his cut. Rose sighed in understanding. "You ... " she asked, gesturing with her hands that the Doctor was to complete the sentence.

"Fainted and hit my head off the bed, I think."

"You think?"

"I dunno. Could have been the Martians coming back for another round with The Doctor," he said, miming boxing little people, "but honestly, realistically, after discovering that your mother may castrate with a pair of very blunt eyebrow tweezers after she finds out about this, I may have reacted as any honourable man would do. I tried to block out the pain, and in the process of doing so I may have lost conciousness," he finished proudly.

"So you didn't faint, you 'lost conciousness'?" Rose asked, amused, marking the inverted commas with her fingers in the air.

The Doctor rubbed his ear. "I thought it sounded more manly," he said, as Rose roared with laughter.

"Whatever, you actual loser," she said, lightly shoving him with her hip. "What are we going to do about Mickey?"

"Mickey?" the Doctor asked, taking a moment. "Ah, Mickity-Mick-Mickey. I shall go retrieve him from ... wherever he is. Oh, Mickey the Idiot!" he said, finshing on a call into the ship. It took him ten minutes before he came back, no Mickey in tow.

"Our darling friend Mickey had decided that right now would be a delightful time to take a nap. So on his behalf, I have requested to myself that I let him sleep and we'll deal with him later."

"What's with the posh voice?" Rose asked, amused.

"I dunno, just felt like it," he said, shrugging. "We'll tell Mickey our news later. If he starts playing up, I can just punch him."

Rose snorted. "Ha! Sorry, Timey, but Mickey grew up on the Powell Estate. Notorious for being the roughest estate in South London. He's learnt to adapt, he could kick your arse. Sorry, but it's true."

"Oi!" he retorted, and Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "I don't like that nickname," he said, and Rose laughed loudly, as he didn't say anything about Mickey beating him in a fight.

By mutual agreement that was never said out loud, the Doctor set the coordinates for the Powell Estate, his and Rose's worried expressions identical as the TARDIS column beam rose and fell rhythemtically. Best get it over and done with.

* * *

The TARDIS made the ride to the Powell Estate as smooth as possible, sensing that two of her occupants were certainly not up for being thrown about today.

All too soon, the TARDIS materalised on the courtyard of the Estate, and the Doctor gluped, stepping out the door and wincing as a bitter winter wind washed over his face.

"Ready?" He said, extending his hand and Rose, who was currently exiting the TARDIS, grasped it tightly. Her hand was clammy, and slightly shaking. "Don't worry," he said, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles soothingly, "it's alright, she won't kill us. Well, she won't kill you, at least."

Rose smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "Haha. I'm just trying to imagine what she'll say when I tell her I'm pregnant at twenty."

"It's better than the usual age around here ... what is it, fifteen, sixteen?" the Doctor said, before Rose's amused glare cut him off before his teenage-pregnancy ramble started. "And besides, you are going to be twenty years old forever, as well. So no point wondering whether it's going to be 2008 twenty, or 40,953 twenty. And you're actually nearly twenty-one, considering it's late November and your birthday's in Feburary."

Rose seemed to cheer up slightly, smiling as the Doctor shut the TARDIS door behind them. "I suppose. I'd rather she was around to see her grandchildren. And I'm sure she will apprecaite the gesture as well."

"So all this," the Doctor said, turning around and gesturing to Rose's womb, "was for Jackie's sake, then?"

"Oh, yeah. Didn't I tell you that?" Rose said, playing along.

The Doctor laughed loudly. "Nah, I think you forgot," he said, and done something he'd never done before; he slung an arm over Rose's shoulder, pulling her in close to his left side. Rose put her right arm around his waist - he really was very skinny, depsite eating three times what she did - and grasped his left hand, which was over her shoulder, with her free left one.

"Haven't you got any washing for your mother?" the Doctor asked, as they made their way to the flat, turning his head slightly to press a kiss to the blonde hair idling to the side of him.

"Yeah, but I'm going to wait and see if she's up for doing any washing after we tell her. Last time we came I said we'll see her at Christmas. We may have to run for our lives."

"Ah, nothing too different from usual, then?"

Rose giggled, and the Doctor pulled her up the stairs to the flat, their worries floating away ... for all of thirty seconds, at least.

* * *

Jackie had just got off the phone to Bev when she heard it.

The materialising whoosh sound, like brakes that needed a good oiling. She dropped the phone, it landing thankfully on the sofa, and was all ready to sprint to the door when she stopped at the window.

The Doctor was pale when he stepped out, but that was nothing compared to Rose's ashen pallor. She looked worse than when she'd come back after she 'died' on that alien planet. Jackie wondered what they were going to tell her now, as Rose's face had that 'I've got something to tell you that I don't really want to' face on, the type of face Jackie had been used to seeing before the Doctor had come. The face that had been on her daughter's face when she'd annouced that she was moving in with that terrible Jimmy Stone, and the face that she'd seen when Rose had come back on Jackie's doorstep, sans Jimmy Stone but avec £800 worth of debt.

What was Rose dropping on her now?

She could Rose saying something, and the Doctor soothing her, then he looked around and Rose seemed to look a little more lively. He then gestured to Rose's stomach - was she ill? - but he obviously said a joke as Rose laughed. They then slotted into a position that they'd obviously been in a million times before, or at least looked as though they had. Rose's coloured seemed to be improving, although she was still very pale and worried-looking. The Doctor kissed her hair, and to Jackie they didn't look like aliens, they just looked like any other couple in London. They were approaching the door now, and through the open window (she'd opened it earlier, after she'd been cooking fish for dinner) she could hear snippets of their conversation, although that wasn't hard at their decibel of talking. Bleedin' houses of Parliment could probably hear them.

" ... after we tell her. We may have to run for our lives." Jackie heard Rose say, before the Doctor chuckled at this statement.

"Ah, no different to usual ... " he had said, but she never caught the end as the went through the door that would take them to her flat. Jackie wondered what they had to tell her. Were they getting married? Moving to Ipswich? Maybe Glasgow - the Doctor did a really good Glaswegian accent. That would be good, Jackie could move near them so she could see her daughter every day.

Or maybe it was worse, maybe they decided to settle down in the year 5632, when Jackie was long gone and iPods were in museums classified as ancient artifacts. She didn't like that idea and Rose would be damned if she thought that moving away to Glasgow in 5632 and open up an iPod museum was a good idea. She would chain the pair of them to the railings. They were quite sturdy ones, Debbie along the corrider had proved that; she'd handcuffed her ex to them last January, clad in only boxers after he cheated on her. Poor guy had caught pneumonia after that.

She could hear them laughing now, just outside the door. She put the phone back in the cradle, put the kettle on. Turned the TV to the Coronation Street Omnibus, and checked what was on after that. Dancing on Ice, repeat of last night. Excellent - she had been at Bev's last night and hadn't heard or seen anything over her loud chattering. A knock at the door stopped her thoughts, and she braced herself for whatever her daughter was going to say.

* * *

"Come on, she'll get over it eventually. She has seven months to get over it," the Doctor said, currently in the process of pulling a relcutant Rose up the stairs.

"You don't know my mother. She _will_ castrate you with very blunt eyebrow tweezers. That's not nice and I don't wanna be there to witness it."

"I'm sure I can use my charisma and excellent charm to get away with it," the Doctor said, tugging her hand. "Now, come on, it's not going to be that bad."

Rose scowled as she reached the top step. "It is so gonna be that bad," she said, and sighed. The Doctor joined her on the step and interlocked their fingers, giving her comfort.

"Right, here we go," the Doctor said, and rapped on the door. "Asta la vista, manhood," he added, and Rose couldn't help but roar with laughter, the Doctor soon joining in, and that's how Jackie found them; the Doctor leaning against the wall in fits of laughter, wiping away tears. Rose was lying on the top step, clearly unable to breathe for laughing, tears running down her cheeks.

"Okay, both of you, inside before someone sends you both to the looney bin," Jackie commanded, and the two hoisted themselves up with difficulty and dragged themselves into the flat. Apart from being slightly pale Rose seemed to be glowing, but Jackie thought nothing of it.

"Cuppa tea?" She asked, as the pair threw themselves down on the sofa, nodding in unison. Rose wiped tears away from her eyes, leaning into the Doctor as she kicked her shoes off and tucked her legs underneath her. The Doctor plonked his feet on the coffee table, draping an arm over Rose's shoulder. They both looked like they had no cares in the world, but inside both of them were hyperventilating.

"Don't worry," the Doctor said, squeezing Rose's shoulder lightly as Coronation Street cut to the advert breaks, an advertisement for Pampers Nappies coming on the screen. "I think the TV's trying to tell us something ... " he said, as Rose whitened.

"Let's get it over and done with," Rose whispered, as Jackie came back through with the tea.

"All right, spill it," she said, placing the cups down on the table, away from the Doctor's feet, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What?" Rose said, acting innocent.

"I saw you comin' from the TARDIS. You didn't exactly look brilliant, you had that face on, the same as when you said you were movin' away with Jimmy, and when you came back," Jackie said, and Rose bit her lip, "And the way you two were talkin' the entire estate would'a heard you. Somethin' about 'after we tell 'er, we'll have to run for our lives'?" Jackie questioned, as Rose and the Doctor both looked sheepish.

"We have something to tell you Jackie," the Doctor started, but Jackie held up a hand to interrupt.

"You are NOT, under any circumstances, movin' away to Glasgow in 5632. Or openin' up at iPod muesum in Glasgow 5632."

Rose and the Doctor both looked flabbergasted. "Where on Earth did you get that idea from?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Oh, so you're only movin' away to Ipswich, then," Jackie said, placing a hand to her heart. "I gotta admit, I was worried for a moment. At least if you're gonna go to Ipswich I can go with you."

"We're not moving anywhere!" the Doctor said, still slightly in shock.

"You're not?" Jackie said, realising she'd put two and two together and gotten six hundred.

"No," Rose said, and bit her thumb in nervousness.

"Oh, the thumb. Now I'm really worried," Jackie said, a frown appearing in her forehead. "Please, Rose, just tell me what's wrong. It can't be that bad, can it?"

Rose shook her head, and took a deep breath. Jackie tensed. "Mum, I'm pregnant."

Jackie smiled, then it sunk it, and her face turned thunderous. "What?!"

"I'm having a baby!" Rose said, smiling, trying to make her mother see the good side of this.

"Really?" Jackie said, and Rose nodded. Something else sank into Jackie's mind. "It can't be Mickey's, 'coz he's away in another world, so that means it's his ... " she trailed off, and the Doctor eyes bugged out of his head before he made a run for it.

"You, you great, big, stupid, horny alien, got my daughter pregnant?!" Jackie said, as she chased him around the flat.

The Doctor jumped over the back of the sofa as Jackie ran to the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. "Yes, but not exactly on purpose, this was a bit of a surprise ... "

"It's an accident?!" Jackie screeched. Obviously this little tidbit of information made the situation worse. "I'm goin' to kill you, Doctor. I will take a lot of pleasure from it." Her voice was dark and the Doctor was not altogether sure she was joking.

Jackie threw the frying pan at him, and the Doctor ducked as it hit the mirror, cracking it. The Doctor glanced at it then Jackie, glad that she wasn't superstitous. Seven years bad luck was all she needed. But Jackie had grabbed more ammunition to hurl at him, so it was time to find a new hiding place. Looking around the room, hiding places were sparse.

"Are you just goin' to leave Rose and the baby here, dump them with me? Run off into time and space, leave all the burdens behind?" Jackie said, a slight taunting edge to her voice. Rose sighed and leaned back against the recliner, now completely comforted. She had gotten away from the sofa as soon as she could. Rose knew that voice very well. Jackie would never hurt the Doctor seriously - she knew her daughter may just disown her for that - so she was going to get exactly everything from him using scare tactics. Hence the taunting voice - she had often used it with ex-boyfriends, so Rose knew what was going on. It would be interesting to see how the Doctor would fare in her mother's test.

"No!" the Doctor said venemously, shaking his head. "I would never leave Rose! And they aren't burdens, neither of them!" He said, angry, his eyes turning dark with rage.

By this time, Jackie had a heavy book poised in her hand, and was standing beside the coffee table. The Doctor was behind the sofa, his hands braced across the top of it, ready to duck if he needed to.

"But I remember you sayin', and correct me if I'm wrong, Doctor, that you 'don't do domestic'? Did you or did you not ever say that?" Jackie said, weighing the book in her hands.

"Yes I did say that. But that was a long, long time ago! I was different then, stupider, too wrapped up in my own misery to see the joy in anything at all! Now, I have the chance to have a family again!"

"Again?!" Jackie said. "You've got kids already?" She looked furious.

"I had kids." the Doctor said darkly. He looked at the floor, and Rose stood up. Time to intervene.

"Mum, don't - " she started, but was cut off by her mother, who seemed slightly softer somehow.

"What do you mean, you had kids?" Jackie said, the book falling from her grasp and tumbling to the floor, hitting the edge of the coffee table as it went down.

"There was a war. On my home planet," the Doctor said, keeping to short sentences. He'd never indulged this with anyone except Rose before, and he didn't like it. But since he was having a baby with Rose, Jackie deserved to know at least the basics.

"Like the World Wars here?" Jackie interrupted.

The Doctor laughed humourlessly. It wasn't a pleasant sound, as usually it held so much warmth, it sounded so cold and dark. "Much, much, much worse," he said. "Daleks verses Time Lords. It was called the Time War. I was a soldier. I had to fight. I lost my parents early on, and then my wife, and then my kids. Jackie, I'm nine hundred years old. You didn't expect that I had a life before Rose?"

"I thought you were just havin' me on when you said that," Jackie admitted, as Rose looked on warily, unsure as to where this was going.

"Well, I wasn't. I didn't think I would get a chance to do it all again. To do it all again and get it _right_," he said, his knuckles turning white he was gripping the sofa so hard. "So, when it boils down to the bare facts, Jackie, I don't really give a damn what you make it of it all. It's my second chance, and I'm grabbing it and running with it as fast as I can, for as long as I can."

"What do you mean?" Jackie said, her eyes still narrowed.

"I'm still partially convinced I'm dreaming. That I'll wake up one day and it'll be another day fighting the Daleks. Or, that it is real, and that Rose will suddenly come to her senses and leave me."

Rose moved to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against his back. "Never gonna happen," she whispered, so her mother couldn't hear.

Jackie eyes looked softer. "Sorry," she muttered, for his loss. She was upset by what he'd just said, but didn't want to show it.

"It's okay. It was a long time ago, now, and I've got so much in my life to be thankful for," he said, leaning into Rose slightly.

"I can't say I'm estatic about this," Jackie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're only twenty, Rose."

"But Mum, I'm going to be twenty forever, remember?" Rose said, and Jackie nodded. "I'd rather I had my child in 2008 than 64,388. But either or, I'm still going to be twenty. At least you can enjoy him or her before you get too old," Rose said, and Jackie seemed to agree.

"I suppose so," Jackie said, sitting down on the recliner. "It'll take me a while to get used to it, though."

Rose beamed, while the Doctor braced one hand against the top of the sofa and jumped over it, landing beside Rose.

"Stop jumpin' on the furniture. Jesus, you're more like a child than anyone else. I'mma look forward to watchin' you bein' a dad, that's gotta be hilarous."

The Doctor glared at Jackie, but the warmth was seeping back into his eyes. Rose was glad; a gloomy, sulky Doctor wasn't the best kind.

"You better start thinkin' of names, you two. What about Andrea? Or Suzanne? Suzanna ... or even ... " Jackie rambled, and the Doctor tuned her out. _At least the whole telling people part was over_, he thought, relieved. Now, the Doctor was just content to sit here, with Rose cuddled into his side, with Jackie spewing on about names.

"What are we say when we tell Mickey?" Rose whispered, Jackie still giving her view on whether Gretchen was a good name for a girl.

The Doctor groaned, throwing his head back against the sofa. No doubt Mickey-the-Idiot wasn't going to take the news well.

"I'll bet you a tenner he throws a hissy fit," the Doctor said to Rose quietly.

"No, because you know he will," Rose said, smiling. Telling her Mum was entertaining, but telling Mickey was going to be down right hilarious.


	14. Damn Those Love Calculators!

**Damn Those Love Calculators!**

**hey. thanks for all the positive reviews for the last chapter, i was quite worried**

**about how it was going to be recieved. but don't fret, it's not the last ****time Jackie will be giving grief. =D and there**

**is some swearing in this chapter, but I bet you're all used to it by now. Not a lot, but it's still there and so warning.**

**and nobody noticed my little joke about the Doctor's ****good Glaswegian accent - as David T's Glaswegian in real life **

**i thought it seemed appropriate! =D go on the Scots! Can you tell I'm Scottish? Although I'm an Edinburger, not a Glaswegian!**

* * *

"Oh, my god, Todd Carty really can't skate, can he?" Rose remarked through tears of laughter, as Todd rolled off the stage during his routine on Dancing on Ice. Jackie was in fits - thank god she's swallowed her burbon two seconds earlier or someone would be doing the Heimilch - and even the Doctor had tears running down his face in glee.

"No ... he's nothing ... short of ... terrible!" Jackie gasped, trying to talk through laughing. The Doctor had given up before he'd even tried.

"Ah, I shouldn't laugh. My side hurts," Rose said, rubbing her side but still giggling away.

The Doctor seemed to recover enough to be concerned. "Do you want something for it?" he choked out, still chuckling slightly.

Rose shook her head, laughing away now that Jason Gardener had given Todd a 1.5. "Ahh, he's a right laugh. I really think he's funny but he so has to get the boot this week," she said, having been watching the whole series on the Sky+ she'd made the Doctor install in the living room. He'd been moaning and groaning about it at first, but after he discovered he could tape episodes he was getting quite into it. Even started complaining that Jackie didn't have it, muttering that she was behind the times. He'd gotten a sharp whack around the head with the TV Times for that little comment.

"Oh, Mum, did I tell you Mickey's back?" Rose mentioned casually, leaning into the Doctor.

"No, you certainly did not, Rose Tyler! I thought he was on another world?"

"Yeah, well, he's back," Rose said, keeping it brief.

"How? Why?" Jackie said, her eyes blazing.

"Long story. Even I don't know the ins and outs of it all."

"Well, where is he now?"

"Asleep, apparently," Rose explained, turning her eyes back to the ice rink where Ray Quinn was currently showing the ice rink what its all about. Jackie let the conversation drop, but made a note to come back to it later. Maybe getting the Doctor drunk was the answer to life's questions. Since getting Rose intoxicated was currently out of the question, she'd have to make do with the Doctor. He might actually be very funny drunk, she hadn't had the chance to see him in that state.

"Isn't that the dude who was the that singing programme you watch?" the Doctor said, reaching across Rose to grab a handful of Pringles. Well, if he's gonna do domestic, he's not gonna do it starving.

"The X Factor, Doctor," Jackie said, as if the Doctor cared. "He came second to Leona Lewis."

"Ahh. Cheese and onion," the Doctor said, looking at the Pringle he held clutched in his hand, thankful at least Jackie had bought his favourite flavour. Probably not on purpose, but anyway.

"No, it was called 'Bleedin' Love'," Jackie said, as Rose started giggling and almost choked on a Percy Pig. For the second time in half an hour, the Doctor found himself going over the Heimlich in his head, before noting to himself to make an appointment with an ear specialist for Jackie.

"I know, Jackie."

"Then why did you say cheese an' onion?"

"I was talking to the Pringle," the Doctor said defensively, waving the Pringle around and coming close to whacking Rose on the nose with the offending crisp.

"I know," she said, holding his arm away from her, "You don't have to do elaborate hand actions to show me. Although you talking to a Pringle is probably down somewhere as the first sign of madness."

The Doctor stuck out his tongue at her childishly. Before Rose could react, Jackie stepped in. "Don't start your childish behaviour, either of you. Honestly, you two bein' parents, that's goin' to be somethin' to see. Maybe," Jackie said, her eyes lighting up, "I could move in with you at the start, maybe for the first few months, to help you get started," she beamed, hardly containing herself as she spoke - this had obviously been a plan in fruition since Rose told her she was pregnant.

Both the Doctor and Rose stared blankly at her for a few minutes, before registering what she said. "NO!" they said together in unison, and Jackie looked rather taken aback.

"If we need you, Mum, we'll tell you, but I think we'll manage on our own," Rose said soothingly, while the Doctor pouted. Living with Jackie Tyler was his idea of hell. The Void seemed tame, almost nice now, compared to living with Jackie for three or maybe even more months.

Jackie seemed to be okay after a minute's reassurance that yes, they loved her (in the Doctor's case, basic mutual like was a good day) and yes, they would contact her if anything went wrong. The Doctor still wasn't too happy and pouted childishly until Rose's elbow in the ribs loosened his lips. The Doctor audibly winced, and Rose raised her eyebrows.

"You've got sharp elbows," he said, rubbing his middle. Rose ignored him. Dancing on Ice finished, and Jackie sat back in her recliner, as Rose and the Doctor were doing a pretty good job of managing to take up a three seater with just the two of them.

The doorbell rang, and Jackie signed. "Honestly, Wild at Heart's starting in five minutes an' someone's at the door ... " she trailed off, still muttering when she opened the door, followed by a loud shout. "Bev!"

"Does she ever go? This 'Bev' seems to be near your mother all the time ... if it wasn't Jackie, I'd say she was stalking her, but who in their right mind would want to stalk Jackie?" the Doctor said in low tones to Rose, even though it was pretty impossible to hear over Bev's shrill voice. From the squeals, it seemed as though she last saw Jackie a couple of decades ago, never mind last night.

Jackie opened the door, and a woman, evidently Bev came through. She looked just as old as Jackie as was dressed in black tracksuit bottoms and a pink velvet tracksuit top. "Doctor, this is Bev. And Bev, remember Rose? It's been a while," Jackie said. Bev's eyes lingered on the Doctor, who was slouched on the sofa wearing his glasses, a little bit longer than they should have; the Doctor was ignoring her, Rose was quite amused and Jackie wasn't pleased. She elbowed Bev slyly, but Rose still noticed as Bev's attentioon flickered unwillingly to Rose.

"'Iya, Rose, it 'as been a while. Last time I 'eard you'd almost died after Henrick's blew to pieces!" Bev said, her accent noticeably thicker than Jackie's.

"Long time ago, then," Rose nodded, before turning her attention back to the TV. The Doctor's eyes hadn't moved from the Tesco Mobile advert. He didn't want any questions asked, and Bev seemed to type to be nosy.

Jackie sat down and started chattering to Bev at a hundred miles per hour, but Bev's eyes were glued on the couple on the sofa, who were whispering about what to have for dinner. The Doctor wanted Chinese, but Rose wanted pizza. Ah, the trials and tribulations of domesticality.

"Oh! Bev! You'll never guess what," Jackie said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Rose is havin' a baby!"

The Doctor and Rose both glared at Jackie. They hadn't exactly wanted the whole world to know, yet, but here she was, now excited by the prospect of being a grandmother? She'd been furious an hour ago.

"Really?" Bev squealed, pulling an uncooperative Rose into a hug. "Oh, congrats! Ya too, whoeva ya are." The last bit was aimed at the Doctor, but no-one would have been able to tell if there were more people in the room. Bev smiled at the Doctor as he made a caveman-like grunt in her direction. Bev seemed overjoyed that he'd even been listening to her.

"Listen, we really, really have to get going," Rose said, and the Doctor moved faster than he had all day, on his feet before Rose had finished.

"Yes. Places to go, people to see, that sort of thing. Many a civilisation to save from blood-thirsty hunters! I think Our Lord Mickey might be up from his nap now," the Doctor said, speaking faster than Bev had done; Jackie barely caught what he was saying, Rose was used to the speed and Bev just stared blankly at him. The Doctor was pulling on Rose's arm, clearly desperate to get away from Bev's admiring stares. He'd forgotten to take off his glasses, evidently, and Bev was just about drooling.

"Whatever. Off you go then. I'll walk you to the door. Bev, I'll be back in a minute," Jackie said, as Rose and the Doctor all but sprinted out the door. Bev looked incredibly disappointed.

"Right, bye, asta la vista, for the second time. Although it's to you, Jackie ... not a part of my anatomy," the Doctor rambled, already trying to dig out his TARDIS key from his never-ending trench coat pocket. Jackie raised an eyebrow at Rose in question, who just shrugged in response.

Rose sighed. "Bye again, Mum," she said, giving her a tight hug.

"Bye sweetie, take care," Jackie said, returning the hug, before pulling back sharply. "Wait a minute ... you can't go off savin' planets and wars and stuff, Rose is pregnant! You'll have to stay here." Jackie looked slightly furious that they had been about to slip under her grasp, and oddly triumphant.

"No, we won't, Mum. I'm only two months gone; I can go out there for a long as I like. I hope," Rose said, sending that last statement towards the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "We'll have to do some tests, because I have no idea what's going to happen since it's a half Human, half Gallifreyan, but I'm almost one hundred percent sure you'll be able to travel until you give birth."

"See," Rose said, her voice now slightly triumphant. "I'll be fine. The Doctor is, shockingly, a doctor, so everything will be fine."

"I'm still not to sure about this. I'd much rather you stayed here."

"I'mma go, Mum, I'll call you soon. I love you," Rose said, pulling from her mother's vice-like grip and setting off after the Doctor, who was waiting halfway down the stairs; he'd slipped off without either Tyler's noticing. Sneaky little ... Timey.

* * *

"Where do you get to, Timey?" Rose asked, as she approached him. He was standing with this arms crossed, a bored expression on his face. He scowled at the nickname, again, and he still had his glasses on.

"I had to get away. If I stayed there any longer, I feel the legendery Bev would have come and given me a goodbye kiss."

Rose laughed, taking his hand. "I think she might've. She was, in fact, literally drooling."

The Doctor made a disgusted face as he pulled Rose closer, as she laughed at his expression. "Don't, Rose. I think I might be scarred for life."

They had reached the TARDIS, and the Doctor had his key to hand; it wasn't long until they were inside. "Just be thankful it wasn't Mum."

The Doctor groaned. "Don't remind me," he said, as Rose gasped in horror, her hands flying to her mouth.

"When did my Mum - " she started, before turning around and gasping again as she saw Mickey standing beside the console screen. "Mickey! You're awake!"

The Doctor turned as well. "Hello, Our Lord Mickey. How was your nap?" he asked, depositing his jacket on a support strut as Rose did likewise.

"Fine, thanks," Mickey said quietly, not referencing the 'Our Lord' nickname the Doctor had made up. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Ah, we were, erm, telling Jackie something, that's all," Rose said distractedly, looking at everything but Mickey. Her fingernails were really interesting, honestly.

"What? That I was back?"

"Yes. That's exactly what we were telling her, douze points to Our Lord Mickey. Anyway, why don't we get a cup of tea and sit down, and Mickey can tell us what he got up to on the Parallel Earth?" the Doctor asked, avoiding Rose's penetrating gaze.

"Yeah, okay," Mickey said, as Rose smiled, pretending to be enthusastic. She'd have much rather got the whole pregnancy thing out in the open with Mickey straight away, but maybe the Doctor was right - butter Mickey up first, so he doesn't go hitting the Doctor. His Ninth form was a bit bigger and could have probably taken Mickey, but this Doctor was a bit skinny for any fights with a lad from the Powell Estate. Rose sure hadn't been joking when she'd said that Mickey had learnt to adapt, although he never really had to adapt, he was born in it, same as Rose. Who probably couldn't go back to living on the Estate, she'd adapted to life on the TARDIS as if she'd been there all her life. And so she would be.

* * *

" ... And so Jake brought out this big, and I mean huge big, gun and starting firing everywhere. I was so scared I jumped out my seat, hit the table where the guns were kept and knocked myself out before I'd even picked up the thing!" Mickey explained his first day training with The Preachers to laughter from the Doctor and Rose, who were currently leaning off various pieces of furniture with tears streaming down their faces.

"Only you, Mickey," the Doctor said, wiping away tears for the second time that day. Even though it was past one in the morning, the two humans were showing no sign of being tired. Which, for Rose's case at least, was probably not for the best.

"I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt," Rose said through her giggles, repeating the statement the Doctor had said to Mickey at Deffry Vale School.

Mickey yawned. "I think I'mma hit the sack," he said, rubbing the insides of his eyes.

"You're just up!" the Doctor protested weakly, not really minding if Mickey went to bed or not. Actually, he'd rather he did. Then he wouldn't have to run the risk of being slapped by a Powell Estate dude. Not that he was going to admit of being even slightly afraid of Mickey Smith. Nah, never.

"No, I'm not. It's half one in the morning. I've only had a couple of hours sleep in 36 hours," Mickey explained, and looked around. "Is it OK if I sleep here? I don't know what state my flat's in ... overcome by rats, maybe?" he shrugged as Rose jumped to her feet, nodding.

"Of course it's ok! Eh, Doctor?" she said, and the Doctor nodded.

"Don't you want you screaming like a little girl and waking up your neighbours," he added, smirking at Mickey. Mickey scowled back in reponse.

"Do you remember where your room is?" Rose asked.

Mickey shook his head pathetically, going for the puppy-dog look but failing miserably. Rose just smiled. "Then the TARDIS will move it closer to the console room."

The TARDIS hummed in agreement, as Rose rested a hand against a wall in thanks.

Mickey gave Rose a hug, before kissing her cheek and leaving towards the general direction of a door; after trying three times and getting the kitchen, a sofa room and then the kitchen again, he finally got the right door. He, however, didn't go inside.

* * *

"He better not be staying for long."

Rose sat down next to the Doctor and smiled at his statement. "I don't think so. Last time he was here it drove me insane! 'Rose, show me this, Rose, where is that? Rose, can you point me in the direction of ... ?' it was annoying. I didn't do that to you, did I, because I'm so sorry if I did!" Rose said, apologetically.

"Two things," the Doctor said, amused, as he held up two fingers, "One, no you did not, and two, why did you put on a higher voice when impersonating Mickey?"

Rose opened and closed her mouth for a second or two, not quite knowing how to react - she hadn't done it intentionally.

The Doctor laughed, wrapping his arms around her stomach tenderly but never moving from his position of lying across the entire length of the sofa. "We're going to have to tell him soon, you know."

Rose sighed. "I know," she said, sitting down on the sofa - actually, she was more pulled down - trapping one of the Doctor's legs against the sofa, and leant back against him. He started playing with her hair, winding the strands around his fingers deftly. "I'm just ... I don't ... I have no idea how he's gonna react. 'Coz it was always meant to be me and him, y'know? Everyone mentioned to Mum, _'you're so lucky, your daughter's gonna settle down with someone good'._ I had my whole life planned out with Mickey, maybe not by my own choice, but I was prepared to go with it. Mickey wanted to get a job in IT and I had my job in Henriks. And then, of course, my job got blown up by a alien with big ears and an even bigger concience and then ... it all went out the window, really." She stopped her ramble, not even noticing she'd been talking for a good while.

"So you think Our Lord Mickey will be jealous?" The Doctor laughed, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

Rose giggled, feeling the Doctor's torso vibrate with his laugher. "Maybe. I don't know. It depends on how he still ... feels, I guess," Rose said, twisting her fingers awkwardly in her lap.

"Well, he was the one who went the parallel Earth. He left you, and he blew it. Because now I've got you," he said, pulling her back and making her giggle.

"Yep," she answered, popping the 'p' like he always did. She turned her head and kissed what she could, which happened to be the left side of his nose.

"That, Tyler, tickles," he said, and tickled her in reponse; they laughter rang through the TARDIS as it would do for eternity.

* * *

Never mind Queen Victoria; Mickey Smith was not amused. Not even mildly. Zilch, zippo, nada. He was not thrilled, delighted, over the moon, exhilarated, exicted, entertained, and certainly not 'tickled pink' by recent events.

What were these 'recent events' that Mickey was not in any way 'tickled pink' by?

The Doctor and Rose's newly discovered relationship.

What the hell was that all about? A twenty year old human dating a nine-hundred year old alien?

It didn't bear thinking about.

There must be some intergalatic law preventing this.

Or, on the other hand, there is probably a prophecy in some anicent galaxy saying that the Doctor and Rose are meant to be together.

Mickey honestly wouldn't say he suprised. If that was the case. He shook his head. This was not helping matters.

He knew they had kissed at Torchwood, but Mickey had thought, rather stupidly, that it was just because they were saying hello, or something along those lines. Nothing like this. But then again, the Doctor and Rose seemed to be perfect for each other. Even their names felt right together, like it was one name.

Like in those love calculator things on the Internet. Mickey and Rose had got 83% - Mickey had been over the moon with that. The Doctor and Rose probably got 100%.

Mickey vaguely recalled doing something like that ages ago, before it came up that 'the' was not an acceptable first name.

So this is how he came to be crouched down outside the living room, pretending to be in his bedroom, listening in on the Doctor and Rose's conversation.

He frowned when Rose said he was annoying, and gasped soundlessly when the Doctor mentioned Rose had increased the pitch of her voice when impersonating him; Mickey honestly hadn't noticed. He nodded to himself when Rose went into that speel about how they were supposed to be together, and frowned again in both wonderment at what they were going to tell him, and at the searing pain in his calves; this squatting business was painful.

Mickey rose, stretching his legs soundlessly, wincing when his knee clicked - luckily both the occupants of the room were too engrossed in their conversation to notice any sound apart from their own voice. The Doctor loved the sound of his too much, in Mickey hourable opinion.

The two in the room starting laughing, and Mickey could stand it no longer. He huffed all the way to his room like a five-year-old, slamming the door upon his entry.

Rose walked out of the living room three seconds later wondering what the noise was. She looked around, frowning, before returning to the living room.

Mickey heard the door click shut again, before the Doctor's muffled voice floated through asking who it was. He wished the door was soundproof, and suddenly he couldn't hear anything. This ship could be nice, when it wanted to be.

Mickey hurriedly changed into pyjamas the TARDIS had provided - he was actually getting wierded out by the niceness, was there something nobody was telling him? - and jumped into bed, thankful he could no longer hear Rose's light giggles and the Doctor deep(ish) chuckle.

The last thought he had through his head was the hope that he flat _wasn't_ overcome by rats, because he really didn't wanna be on the ship for too long.

* * *

Rose woke to the pungent smell of fresh coffee wafting through her door. She turned towards the door and inhaled deeply, the smell rousing her slightly. She reached out a hand to her right, expecting the sheets to be smooth under her hand but instead they hit something very soild and warm. The shock made her wake up sharply; she hadn't expected him to stay. She looked at the clock to her left and it read 10:43am, and from a glance she knew he was still asleep. Rose would have been worried if this had occured a few nights ago, but he was due some sleep time so it didn't worry her as much.

The Doctor looked peaceful in sleep; the one time he did, he was usually very hyperactive. Like a toddler on _Skittles. _With _M&M's. _He lay on his back, one arm above his head and the other was under Rose's, previously around her waist. He slept in silence, barely making a single sound, and Rose had to lean forward to hear his breathing. It was in stark contrast to Mickey, who could have brought the roof down with his snoring. He still had a slight tan from when they went to the sun planet, Suoila (and they had spent ages sunbathing without the risks of burning or cancer) and it seemed to reflect slightly off his white sheets.

It occured to Rose it would be Mickey that was maing the coffee.

If she stayed, she knew he would wake up, as he was an incredibly light sleeper. She dragged herself unwilling from her bed, wanting to stay there in it warm embrace. Dressing quickly, she shut the door quietly behind her, not wanting to wake the Doctor - he deserved a good sleep as she hadn't seen him sleep since before Felspoon. She padded down the corridor, following the smell of coffee until she reached the kitchen. Pushing the door open, her eyes took in the sight of Mickey hunched over a cup of coffee, and by counting the cups she could tell it was his third.

"Trying to bleed our coffee supply dry, are you?" Rose asked, picking up a clean mug (An 'I heart NY' one she'd picked up when the Doctor took her to New York - 2007 New York, not New New York) and poured herself some.

Mickey grunted in response. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Sleeping," Rose replied, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the sleep that still clogged them.

"I thought he didn't sleep."

"Don't let him kid you - he sleeps, just less than us. About once a week or so," she said, putting toast in the toaster.

"Oh. Put some on for me," Mickey told her, and Rose sighed. Just like old times, and not in the good way. If she closed her eyes, she could see herself in Mickey's kitchen, still trapped in her old life. She shook her head - she wasn't there any more, but he still ordered her about whenever they met up. And every time, he expected her to com 'home' to Jackie's, not realising that it wasn't home for Rose anymore.

Rose didn't answer him. Mickey rose from his seat and stood beside her. "There's something going on ... " he said, placing his hand over Rose's. She tugged it free, instead placing the coffee cup within it. Mickey stared at the counter where their hands had been. "Something you're not telling me."

"No, there's not." Rose's voice was a still strained as she tried to control her mounting anger.

"Yes, there is."

"No, there isn't."

"Yes, there is. I know you, Rose."

"There's not. You don't know me as well as you thought."

"Yes there is, and I do know you - better than the Doctor does."

"There is nothing to say, Mickey, and I've changed a lot."

"There is something going on, and you're going to tell me."

"Just drop it, alright!" Rose said angrily, slamming the cup down on the kitchen table with such force some of the dark liquid inside sloshed over the rim. "It's none of your business, and we'll tell you when we want to! Stop interrogating me, it's not the Spanish bloody Inquisition!" she yelled, and walked out the room and straight into the Doctor, who looked down at her both slightly sleepy and slightly amused.

"Hello, I heard your lovely tones at several decibels louder than they should be. Are you okay?" he asked, holding Rose by the shoulders.

"I'm fine. Just keep me and Mickey at least several hundred meters apart before I decapitate him with very blunt, rusty pair of scissors!" she said, and the Doctor chuckled.

The glare Rose gave him reminded him she was Jackie's daughter. He stopped and looked at her hands, eyeing their every movement. "And why, may I ask, are you running away from Mickey? You're not usually the type to run. More the type to slap them silly with either your hands or a sharp-looking shoe."

"He was asking me a lot of questions. Nosy bastard. I hate him," Rose snarled, and the Doctor sighed. Hormones.

"You don't hate him. Go and calm down in the sitting room, I'll bring you some coffee if you want," he asked, and Rose nodded in agreement and walked off towards the sitting room.

The Doctor entered the kitchen, and found Mickey hunched over a coffee cup, sulking, and eating toast. "There is something you're not telling me," he said to the alien.

"So what if there is? It's none of your business," the Doctor answered, filling up the kettle and putting on some toast.

"That's what she said. But you have to tell me. That's what you were away telling Jackie earlier, wasn't it? Not that I was back," Mickey said, standing up.

"Maybe," the Doctor said, nonchalently, pouring two cups of coffee.

"Well, tell me, then," Mickey said forcefully.

"You might have once got away with that when talking to Rose," the Doctor said, now buttering some toast, "But don't try that tone on me. It won't work."

Mickey crossed his arms over his chest. "There is something you're keeping from me. Deliberately, I think."

"For an idiot, you're incredibly inquisitive," the Doctor said, trying to leave, but with Mickey blocking his way.

"You're going to tell me."

"Hardly," the Doctor scoffed, and pushed past him easily to get to Rose. It would be easier just to tell him, but that way Mickey would win, and that was one thing the Doctor didn't want. And Rose didn't seem to want to give into him, either.

* * *

Two hours later, Rose and the Doctor found themselves outside the kitchen where they knew Mickey was still sulking.

"Are you ready?" the Doctor asked her, squeezing her hand lightly.

"No," Rose said honestly, shaking her head, "But it's best to get it over and done with."

"We can just go if you like ... "

"No, I'mma do this now," Rose said, squaring herself up and was startled when the door opened.

"Right, you two are definately hiding somethin'," Mickey said, sticking his chin out slightly.

"Yeah, we do," Rose said. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh, is that it?" Mickey said, before realising exactly what Rose had said.

_Thunk._

"Men. All the same," Rose said, looking down at Mickey on the floor. "At least he didn't cut his head."

"Oi. I passed out. Mickey has fainted," the Doctor said, making no move to picked the man up off the floor.

"And the difference is ... ?" Rose asked, bending down to move Mickey before the Doctor pulled her up sharply.

"No heavy weights," he reminded her, "And there is a difference. Mickey's an idiot and I'm a superior being."

A moan from Mickey brought both of their gazes down to him on the floor.

"Our Lord Mickey! Earth to Our Lord!" the Doctor said in a loud voice, waving at him.

Mickey took a moment to right himself. "So you," he said in a weak voice, pointing at Rose, "Are having a baby, with him." he pointed at the Doctor.

"Yep," Rose said bluntly. The Doctor was going a damn good impression of Churchill from those car insurence adverts beside her.

"So first, you leave me for some big-eared bloke," Mickey said, fully recovered from his fainting spell, "then you go off again when he's changed his face, then when I move universes you get all shacked up together! And to think, someday I thought you and me ... " he trailed off, but the conclusion was clear.

"Yeah, well, that isn't happening," Rose said, shrugging. "One day, a long time ago, I thought 'you and me' too. All it ever was, wasn't it? Had our lives planned together from the day we met. But, to be perfectly honest, I was never in love with you."

"What?!" Mickey said, stung.

"I never was in love with you. I love you, like a brother. That's what you are to me, and all you ever were, I think. The brother that I never had. Dig deep - don't you feel the same?" Rose pleaded with her eyes.

The silence from Mickey answered her question. Yes, he felt like that too. But that didn't mean he wanted her running off with a nine-hundred-year-old alien.

"But ... "

"No buts, this is it," Rose said. "You deserve someone better, Mickey, who will be there for you. Because this," she gestured around her, "Is my life now. Forever."

"I don't understand," Mickey said, rubbing his forehead. "You're going to die at somepoint, Rose. You can't be here forever."

"Remember the whole 'dying in Felspoon and brought back to life' Mickey? I can't die."

Mickey's eyes bugged before he started screaming. At Rose, at the Doctor, at the TARDIS, anything. No words. He just screamed.

"You're a bloody alien!" Mickey hollered, pointing at Rose.

"We forgot to tell you?" the Doctor said, his voice aloof. "Sorry about that."

"Yes, you bloody well forgot to tell me! Don't you think I should know these things?"

"It's just been non-stop since Torchwood and - " Rose started, but Mickey cut over her.

"Save it," he snarled, throwing a look of disgust at the couple before walking out of the TARDIS and into London's bright streets, thankful he was somewhere life made sense.


	15. Donna, Chiswick's Drag Queen

**Donna, Chiswick's Drag Queen**

**hey! finally - the Runaway Bride! But of course, with some major alterations. Unlike the Doomsday/AOG**

**chapters that I did, this one is going to be pretty different from the episode, considering Rose is here.**

**and the fact that Donna is so ... awesome, I love writing her, so I'm having some fun with this chapter!**

**oh, a 'cab' is a British slang term for a taxi, for all those who don't know. **

* * *

Rose and the Doctor watched Mickey leave in a strop Lauren Cooper from _The Catherine Tate Show_ would be proud of, matching looks of shock on their faces. Slowly, that shock changed to ... well, laughter, to be honest. The Doctor was standing behind and slightly to the side of Rose, and after a few moments stock-still in shock he saw her shoulders moving up and down in silent laughter. It was bubbling up his throat, getting higher and higher until suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore - he burst out laughing, and Rose followed suit.

"Oh, my God ... " Rose said, sitting on the Captain's Chair, wiping away blackened tears. "I never, ever thought he would react like that."

"That has gotta be one of the best things I've been for a while. It was better than watching _Eastenders. _Ditto _Hollyoaks._ Or, should've recorded it and sent it into _You've Been Framed_," the Doctor said, leaning against a support struct lazily, having somewhat recovered from his laughing fit. His sides were seriously beginning to hurt, he noted as he rubbed them.

"Oh! We so should've," Rose agreed, and put her feet up on the console. The Doctor frowned.

"How does she get to use you as a footrest and I get told off?" he said, his face tilted up so he was speaking to the ceiling. Or, more precisely, the TARDIS.

Several bleeps, clicks and whines followed, and the Doctor scoffed.

"What did she say?" Rose asked.

"She said I treat her like furniture, while you do it with 'love', which I don't get. And also she's being nice because you're pregnant."

"Thanks," Rose said, and rubbed the console lovingly. The Doctor scowled as he put the TARDIS in the Vortex. Better give Mickey some time to cool off.

"I've been with you for nine hundred years, ya know, and you treat Rose better than you treat me! Honestly, you'd think ... " the Dcotor trailed off, as Rose was miming to him. "What?" he asked, as Rose pointed behind them.

He turned around slowly, not knowing what exactly was behind him. Slitheen? A Dalek? A Uvodni? No, just a woman - human, and wonderfully ginger - in a wedding dress. Her face was currently trying in vain to match her hair, and was succeeding at her challenge.

"What?!" The Doctor said, clear astonishment on his face.

"Who are you?" the Bride demanded. A Londoner, and a tough one at that. As if the TARDIS hasn't got enough tough(ish) Londoners.

The Doctor turned around, looking at Rose. She shook her head, at a loss of what to do. "But ... " the Doctor started, but did not finish.

"Where am I?" the Bride squawked, the demanding tone still present in her voice.

"What?!" the Doctor said, for lack of nothing else to say.

"What the hell is this place?" she demanded rudely, obviously forgetting her manners.

"What?!" the Doctor said, once again turning to an apologetic Rose, who had nothing else to add. 'What?!' summed it up nicely.

* * *

Rose took a long look at the woman. Tallish, at least a couple of inches taller than Rose, and a little curvier than Rose's slim frame (although come back in four months and that might not be the case) and she was clearly getting married. The long, flowing white dress saw to that. It was beautiful, thought Rose as she gazed at it; covered in crystals and it shimmered when it caught the light. It matched her tiara, from which her veil hung. And, well, she was _ginger_. Rose supressed a smile; she imagined the Bride wouldn't take kindly to being called ginger - Rose saw her as the type to say her hair was red, not ginger. She wondered when the comment would arise. She also wondered when the Doctor would make reference to her hair colour - Rose could see the envy in his face already.

"What is this place?" the Bride was demanding again. She seemed a very demanding person - probably as a result of her fiery hair colour. Never mind Mickey vaguely resembling Lauren Cooper - this woman had it in the bag.

"The TARDIS," the Doctor muttered, diving towards the console and pressing random buttons.

"The what?" the Bride asked, clearly not understanding the Doctor.

"The TARDIS," he said again, not even sparing her a glance as he pressed more buttons and turned knobs. Whatever he was trying to acheive was anyone's guess; Rose suspected he was fiddling to get out of confronting the conundrum that had appeared in their ship.

"The what?" the Bride repeated.

"The TARDIS!" the Doctor said, fustrated, but still refusing to look at her.

"The _what_?" the Bride placed emphasis on the 'what', her hands coming up with elaborate arm gestures.

"The TARDIS," Rose jumped in, as the Doctor was rapidly turning tomato-red. "It's called the TARDIS."

"That's not even funny," the Bride said, now understanding Rose, it seemed, "You're just making up names!"

"No, it's actually called the TARDIS," Rose said, a smile manisfesting on her face.

"The conundrum is ... " the Doctor butted in dramatically, appearing magically at Rose's side, "How did you get here?"

At the Doctor's question, the Bride went rigid with rage, her hands balling instantly into fists by her side. "Well, you kidnapped me, you ... people!" she raged, pointing between the Doctor and Rose. "Who set you up to this? Was it Nerys? I knew it! Oh, my God, she has finally got me back. This whole things has got _Nerys_ written all over it!"

"Who's in Rassilion's name is Nerys?" the Doctor asked, holding up both hands.

"Your best friend," was the Bride's scathing and entirely unhelpful reply.

"Wait!" Two faces looked round to the other London accent as Rose looked shocked. "I do! I know a Nerys!" she said, raising her hand like she was in school. "Really small, around five foot one, a little bit chubby, brown hair?" Rose questioned, as the Doctor looked on at her in shock, clearly dumbfounded. Rose still had her arm raised in the air and he took the liberty of putting it down for her.

"No, tall, blonde, skinny as a rake," the Bride said, jealously apparent, and Rose shook her head in the negative.

"Anyway, before Nerys materalises on board as well," the Doctor said, "Can I ask - why are you dressed like that?" He directed his question to Donna. Rose hit herself on the forehead with her palm, shaking her head.

"I'm going ten-pin bowling," the Bride said sarcastically. "Where do you think I was, Dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle!" she yelled.

The Doctor nodded in understanding, but the Bride was obviously riled as she squared up to him. He ran and hid behind Rose, who was amused at his lack of manliness.

"If we get a boy, he better not get your courage. Before we know it, he'll be following the Yellow Brick Road, asking the Wizard of Oz for some courage," Rose whispered to the Doctor, who smiled and laughed slightly in response; the Bride was not happy about this exchange, clearly thinking they were talking about her.

"Oi! You two!" she yelled, succeeding in capturing the couples' attention, "I've been waiting all my life for this. An' I was just seconds away! Then, I dunno ... you must of drugged me of something!"

"We haven't done anything!" Rose said, holding her hands up in defense. The Doctor was nodding furiously.

"We're havin' the police on you!" the Bride continued, now pointing a finger at Rose, "Me and my husband - as soon as he is my husband - we're gonna sue the livin' backside off both of ya!"

"Ooh, bring it on," the Doctor said, and the Bride made a funny screeching sound like braking tyres. She turned towards the TARDIS doors, obviously with the intent of leaving.

"No, don't!" Rose said, running towards the Bride but it was too late; she threw open the doors and saw ... well, nothing. Just space. Well, they were currently orbiting a supernova. Gos knows why - maybe the TARDIS thought it would be pretty? There's no telling. Whatever the reason, they were there, the Bride was flabbergasted, staring out into space.

"You're in space," the Doctor said softly, coming up behind the Bride and Rose, grabbing one of the latter's hands. "Outer space. This is my ... spaceship."

"It's called the TARDIS," Rose pitched in, squeezing the Doctor's hand. He squeezed back, smiling. A moment's peace. Even in all the six minutes, eighteen seconds he'd known the Bride, he'd never seen her so quiet.

"How am I breathing?" the Bride asked quietly, one hand coming up to her neck.

"The TARDIS is proctecting us," the Doctor answered.

The Bride seemed to have calmed down. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose," he answered,

"Hello!" Rose waved, and the Bride smiled. "You?"

"Donna Noble," the Bride, Donna, said.

The Doctor glanced up and down. Rose elbowed him in the ribs, mouthing "Don't be rude."

He ignored her. "Human?" he asked Donna, who turned around and gaped at him.

"Yeah. Is that optional?" she asked, subtly confirming she was indeed human.

"For us, yeah," the Doctor said nonchalently.

"You're aliens," Donna stated.

"I'm half-human, actually. Was fully human until I ... well, something happened, really," Rose said, and Donna looked a little better at having someone who was kinda human on board with her.

"It's freezing with these doors open," Donna said after a while, and Rose laughed; it was getting slightly chilly, and Donna was in a sleeveless dress while Rose had her demin jacket on. The Doctor slammed the doors closed, already talking.

" ... But I don't understand it and I understand everything! This - this can't happen! There is no way a Human Being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside. It must be ... " he trailed off, grabbing some appliance and was peering into Donna's eyes, all the while a stream of techobabble was escaping from his mouth. Usually to shut him up, Rose would kiss him, but this was not the time. Anyway, Donna was struck silent with confusion, obviously worried at the amount of long and confusing words that the Doctor was sprouting. Rose made a mental note to tell Donna she still doesn't understand him most of the time and she's been travelling with him for nearly three years.

"... Impossible," the Doctor continued. "Maybe some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic - "

_Slap._

Donna looked furious, her hand raised for another slap. Rose burst out laughing at the look on his face.

"What was that for?!" he asked indignantly, rubbing his now red cheek. He glared at Rose, who didn't stop laughing.

"Just get me to the church!" Donna shouted, as Rose was biting her fingernails to stop herself laughing at the sight of the Doctor being overpowered by a human woman. Although all she really needed to do was drop him off at her Mum's and that would be the same senario.

"Fine!" the Doctor said, throwing up his hands. "I don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding, then?"

"Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, Earth, The Solar System," Donna replied, folding her arms over her chest.

Rose walked over to Donna. "Don't worry. We'll get you back as soon as possible," she said, and Donna looked at her gratefully, "And don't listen to him when he's sprouting that technobabble. I just tend to tune him out when he does that!" she said, and her and Donna giggled. The Doctor looked up and them and scowled.

"Don't be talking about me over there," he warned, and Rose just shot him a look that meant they were definitely talking about him.

* * *

Donna threw open the door to the TARDIS, thankful that it was actually Earth she was seeing this time, not some random supernova. But what stood in front of her wasn't Saint Mary's - no, it was a Starbucks. Not much use if you want to get married, unless your a caffine addict.

"I said Saint Mary's!" Donna wailed. "What sort of Martian are you? Where are we?"

Rose sighed. "He's not actually a Martian. And I think we're in London. I think," she said. "What do you think, Doctor?" she turned around to see the Doctor stroking the exterior of the TARDIS. Rose rolled her eyes. "Do you actually last a day without stroking her like some sort of pet?"

"Something's wrong with her ... " he said, and Rose rushed to his side, instantly worried.

"What's wrong? What is it, Doctor?"

"It's like she's ... recalibrating!" he rushed back into the TARDIS and started fiddling with the controls, grabbing his stethoscope and pressing it against the central column. Rose followed him in, staying on the ramp. "She's disgesting."

Donna, however, was more preoccupied with TARDIS exterior - and it's lack of size.

"What have you eaten?" the Doctor's voice floated out of the TARDIS and onto Donna's deaf ears. "What's wrong? Donna? You've really gotta think - is there anything else that could have caused this?"

Donna ignored him, instead circling the TARDIS with a mixture of shock, bewilderment and disbelief on her face.

" ... Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off in case you're dangerous. I mean, have you ... have you seen lights in the sky? Or ... did you touch something? Something - something different? Something strange? Something made out of a sort of metal or ... who're you getting married to?"

Donna popped her head back inside the TARDIS, and confirming it is the size that it is, she stumbled back out again, hands clasped over her mouth in shock.

" ... Are you sure this guy is human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip on his forehead, is he? Not that I'm slagging or anything, but they can be a bit troublesome ... " he said as Rose turned around to see Donna running away, overcome with the strangeness of the TARDIS.

"Donna!" she called, running after her. Rose easily caught up with her - she hadn't been running for her life for three years and not become any fitter, or faster.

"Leave me alone," Donna said, addressing Rose. "I just wanna get married."

"Come back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, who'd arrived moments after Rose.

"No way," Donna shook her head, red curls flying. "That box is too ... weird."

"It's bigger on the inside, that's all," the Doctor defended.

"Oh! That's all?" Donna said sarcastically.

Rose wrapped her arm around Donna's shoulder in a friendly, human gesture. "I know what it's like," she said, and Donna turned to her. "It feels so weird, so wrong, right? Like something you can't physically understand. A complete conundrum. But I got used to it ... it's home, now."

Donna nodded, and checked her watch. "Ten past three. I'm gonna miss it."

"You can phone them. Tell them where you are." the Doctor said.

"How do I that?" Donna asked.

"Don't you have a phone?" the Doctor said. Man, even _he_ had a phone now.

"I'm in my wedding dress. It doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting at _Chez Alison,_ the one thing I forgot to say was 'give me pockets'!?" Donna said, firing up again.

The Doctor turned to Rose. "What about your phone?"

Rose nodded, extracting her phone from her jacket pocket. "Battery's flat," she said, tossing it in the TARDIS. The Doctor groaned, as Donna huffed.

"Oh well, that's great then. Stuck in the middle of London with a Martian and a half-human who can't even charge her phone!"

"This man you're marrying," the Doctor said, running a hand down his face. "What's his name?"

Donna's eyes instantly glazed over. "Lance," she said dreamily, and Rose nudged the Doctor, and they both silent laughed at her expression.

"Good luck Lance."

"Oi!" Donna said, her mood swinging like a bat. "No Martian and his mate is gonna stop me from getting married! To hell with ya both!" she yelled, running as fast as she could in her wedding shoes, her dress hitched up.

"I'm not - I'm not ... I'm not from Mars," the Doctor said feebly, as he linked hands with Rose, running hand-in-hand after Donna.

* * *

"Taxi!" Donna called, as the Doctor and Rose found her, both of them panting slightly. The taxi's light came on as he passed them, despite the fact his taxi was empty.

"Why's his light on?" Donna wondered aloud, as the taxi cruised passed them.

"There's another one!" the Doctor said, pointing. Donna ran onto the road to try and catch the driver's attention, but again it just drove past them.

"Do you have this effect on everyone?" the Doctor asked, as he stuck out his thumb only for yet another cab to cruise by.

"What effect?" Donna asked, hands on hips. Rose rolled her eyes.

"You seem to ... erm ... drive people away at an alarming rate. In the nicest way possible," the Doctor said, as Donna looked nothing short of furious.

"Can we just focus on getting a taxi?" Rose asked and they all nodded.

Two builders' wolf-whisted across the street. "Where's the party, people?" They yelled, before carried on their way.

"They think I'm in fancy dress," Donna said, looking down at her dress.

Another taxi whistled by, but instead of stopping, the driver leaned out his window. "Stay off the scotch, darlin'!" he yelled as he drove quickly by.

"They think I'm drunk!" Donna said, hands in the air in disbelief. The Doctor smothered a snigger.

They'd almost managed to flag a cab down when a small Corsa behind it, with two teenage boys in it, yelled out - "You ain't fooling no-one, mate!"

The cab quickly drove away.

"They think I'm in _drag_!" Donna yelled, agast.

The Doctor looked Donna up and down, as if evaluating her. For about the fifty-second time in ten minutes, Rose rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on!" she said, and put her fingers between her lips and whistled, long and piercing. Donna covered her ears in horror while the Doctor winced.

"Was that necessary?" he asked, rubbing his ears.

"Yes, it got us a cab, didn't it?" Rose said, as one was parked in front; all three bundled in ungracefully.

"Wll, couldn't you have done it earlier, then?" he said, closing the door shut behind him. It was a tight squeeze, as Donna's wedding dress took up two seats on it's own.

Donna spoke hurried to the driver. "Saint Mary's in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road. It's an emergency, I'm getting married! Just ... hurry up!"

"You do know it's gonna cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today, it being Crimbo an' all," the Cockney driver said, leering at both Rose and Donna from behind the glass. The Doctor wasn't happy with this driver.

"Have you got any money, Rose?" he asked his girlfriend, who shook her head.

"I've only got a fiver. Haven't you got any?"

"Left it in the TARDIS. How about you, Donna?" the Doctor asked the bride, who once again fired up.

"Pockets!" she said, gesturing violently to her dress.

The driver took one glance at the threesome and they got the message, bundling out of the taxi just as ungracefully as they had entered.

"And that's double for your mother!" Donna yelled after it. The Doctor's eyes widened. "I'll have him," Donna continued. "I've got his number. Talk about Christmas Spirit!"

"Is it Christmas?" the Doctor said, suddenly delighted, looking around the square they had found themselves in.

"Duh!" Donna replied, in a voice one would use when talking to someone who wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the colouring set. Not when talking to an Intergalatic Genius. With capital letters. "Maybe it's July on Mars, but here on Earth it's Christmas Eve." She spotted something in the distance, and whacked the Doctor to get his attention. "Phone box!" she said, pointing at the offending phone box (the Doctor noted with a sigh it was red, not blue) and the three amigos ran towards it, the Doctor rubbing his bruised stomach.

"We can reverse the charges!" Donna was explaining as she ran - pretty brave of her, wearing the heels that she was.

"Tell me, I'm curious - how did you come to be getting married on Christmas Eve?" the Doctor asked, holding Rose's hand.

"Hate Christmas, I do. Never liked it, never will. So we're getting a honeymoon in Morocco. Sunshine, sea and sambooka! Lovely!" Donna panted, slightly out of breath. She needn't have worried though, as they reached the phone box and the Doctor, being the gentleman that he was, held the door open for Donna.

"What's the operator? Or do I call Reverse Charge?" she babbled, holding the receiver in one hand. "I've not done this in years. What do you dial? Is it 100?"

The Doctor sighed, and pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out, pointing it at the phone for two seconds. "There," he said, proudly. "Just - just dial direct."

Donna dialed her Mum's mobile, and sure enough, the dialling tone rang out from the receiver.

"What did you do?" Donna said demandingly.

"Something ... " the Doctor said, lost for words.

"Something Martian!" Rose submitted, and the Doctor nodded.

"Something Martian. Now, phone, and we'll go get some money!"

Rose and the Doctor left, running down the street hand-in-hand to the cash machine while Donna was saying something about WH Smith into the phone. As soon as they were out of Donna's earshot (and waiting in an annoyingly long queue to use the machine - presumably last-minute shoppers) Rose asked the question the Doctor had been waiting for.

"How do you think she got in the TARDIS?"

"I have officially no idea," the Doctor replied, whispering in her ear in an identical fashion in which she had asked the question.

"Stop bouncing, you look stupid," Rose whispered, as an agitated Doctor rocked on his heels impatiently, drawing looks from people both in front and behind him. Finally the queue went down and they got to the cash machine. He looked around, making sure no-one was looking before using the Sonic on the machine.

Donna, meanwhile, was done with her phone call and was now asking a woman on the street for money. "Doctor!" Rose said warningly, pointing to Donna who had got a tenner from a lady and was now trying to wave down a taxi. He groaned, before something else caught his eye.

"Rose ... " he said, looking at the blonde woman beside him. "Is it just me, or are those Santas really familiar?"

Rose gasped. "They're the Sycorax Santas from last year, aren't they?" she said, and the Doctor nodded.

"Donna!" they said together, and they ran down the street towards her.

Donna had managed to wave down a taxi. "Thanks for nothing, spaceman! I'll being seeing you both in court!" she said, before getting into the taxi, which sped off in an alarming amount of tyre smoke.

"Donna!" the Doctor said, as she drove away.

"Doctor?" Rose said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. "Did you see the driver?"

"Of Donna's taxi?" the Dcotor asked as he looked down at her. Rose nodded. "No, why?"

"It was a robot Santa," Rose said bluntly.

"Oh, for the love of Rassilion!" the Doctor said, as the couple ran back to the TARDIS, intent on saving Donna from robot Santas and other potentially dangerous Christmas symbols. They hadn't known Donna for very long, but she definitely seemed like the type to attract trouble, and a lot of alien trouble at that.


	16. A Frosty Reception, Of Sorts

**A Frosty Reception, Of Sorts**

**the second part of The Runaway Bride! it was only meant to be two parts, but i thought **

**it was going to be a little too long, so it's been split into three for your prolonged enjoyment**

**of the wonderfully funny Donna, who I'm having immense fun writing!**

* * *

The Doctor took one look at the taxi, flying away with a semi-hysterical bride inside, and suddenly had an idea. An idea so brilliant, in fact, that it could have won an award. Several awards, int he Doctor's opinion - and it raised the Christmas Cheer moral, as well. At least he hoped. "Watch this," he said to Rose, smirking, as she had a confused look on her face. The queue to the ATM was now gone, and the Doctor accessed it easily; he held the Sonic against it for thirty seconds and all of a sudden hundreds of banks notes came flying out the slot, swirling up into the air like feathers before the greedy people snatched as many as they could get their hands on.

"Impressive," Rose said, now smirking as well. "But I bet you're glad Mum isn't here, she'd been killing people with her bare hands to get their money."

"Haha! She would get it, as well. Now come on, while the Santas are distracted! We really need a good name for those Santas if they are going to keep popping up every year!" the Doctor said, as the couple ran back towards the TARDIS.

The TARDIS let them access immediately, without the usual fumbling for keys. Within moments the TARDIS was in flight, zooming to where Donna had been bride-napped by an bad-ass Santa.

Sparks suddenly flew up to Rose's right, nearly setting her on fire; the Doctor swore loudly, and banged the TARDIS with his faithful hammer. "Behave!" he told her, to much wheezing and groaning. "Come on, we're nearly there!" he said, holding on as the TARDIS bumped towards the motorway where Donna was. Rose was looking green.

"Are you okay?" he asked, trying to move but getting thrown around everytime he tried. She nodded weakly.

"I'll be fine," she managed, but the sentence was a complete oxymoron as she looked like she'd lose her lunch all over the console. The Doctor prayed she didn't - not only would it be a nightmare to clean up, the console room would stink for ages afterwards. It stank for two weeks after they decided to eat fish and chips in there, so God knows how long the stench of vomit would lie there for.

"Here," the Doctor said, fishing in his coat for anti-nausea tablets he'd bought ages ago when Rose had caught a sickness bug after they'd visited her mother. He'd decided to keep them in case they were needed again, and now seemed a pretty good time to use them. He handed them to Rose along with a half-empty bottle of water he'd found in there as well, bought a few nights ago when they'd visited the corner shop as a favour to Jackie. Rose gulped them down gratefully, and after a few minutes her colour seemed to return.

"Feeling better?" he asked her, whilst banging again on the TARDIS. They were closing in on Donna and the rogue taxi.

"Much, thanks," Rose said, looking much better than she did. "I'd give you a hug, but I might fall over." As if on cue, the TARDIS shook again as it appeared in the atmosphere. The Doctor headed towards the door gingerly, Rose following him.

"Stay here! I need you to control the TARDIS," he said, as the TARDIS bumped along. Rose nodded, and gripped the console to steady herself. "Are we near Donna?" he yelled across from the door to the console at her.

"Yeah! She should be there if you open the doors! What on Earth are you planning, Doctor?" Rose asked, completely clueless about the finer points of how her boyfriend was about to save a Bride-to-be from deathly robotic Santas. All she really knew, to be honest, was that he was going to save her.

The Doctor nodded, before throwing open the TARDIS doors. Rose screamed as the air turbulance whipped their faces. "You're on the bloody motorway!" she screamed, now mimicing the Doctor's stance of two hands and one leg on the console to keep herself from being tossed from side to side. Thank God for those anti-nausea tablets, otherwise her lunch would have been the new decoration for the console room.

"I can see that! And feel it!" he bellowed back to her, and Rose would have laughed if she hadn't been worried about connecting with a support strut.

Donna, meanwhile, was in the taxi with her hands pressed against the window. She'd obviously been trying to slap her way out the taxi if the handprints on the windows and back window were anything to go by.

"Open the door!" the Doctor yelled to Donna.

"Do you what?" she shouted back, unable to hear him properly.

"Open. The. Door!"

"I can't!" Donna screamed, tugging at the taxi door. "It's locked!"

"Ugh!" the Doctor sighed under his breath. A predicament he hoped wasn't going to occur, as retrieving the sonic screwdriver from his pocket whilst holding open two doors against the force of air turbulence wasn't exactly a breeze - if you excuse the pun, that is.

He managed though, and sonic'd the door. It audibly clicked, and Donna rolled down the window.

"Santa's a robot!" she told him, as if he didn't already know.

"Yes! I gathered that! Just open the door!"

What for?" Donna seemed confused.

"Oh, for God's sake! You've got to jump!" the Doctor said, exasperated. The robot turned it's head slightly, as if it understood what the Doctor was saying.

"I'm not bloody jumping anywhere, mate, I'm supposed to be getting married!"

The robot put his foot down on the accelerator and sped off at an alarming rate even on a motorway, overtaking the TARDIS.

"Rose!" the Doctor called, and heared her yell something back. "Use the spinny thing and then the pumpy thing!" Luckily, he'd shown Rose what these things were so she knew, otherwise she would have been as clueless as her mother about his analogy to the parts of the TARDIS.

The TARDIS soon sped off again, banging on the roofs of some of the cars on the motorway; one man look paticularly distressed, and become possibly even more so when the Doctor mouthed a 'sorry!' in his direction.

The Doctor fell down as the TARDIS approached Donna, but managed to regain his balance and sonic'd the robot to disable it. "Listen to me, Donna, you've got to jump!"

"I'm not jumping on a motorway!"

"Whatever that thing is, it needs you. And whatever it needs you for, it ain't good. And I've now disabled it - no need to thank me - so the taxi's gonna crash!"

"I'm in my wedding dress!" Donna said, pointing to herself, as if that was an excuse.

"I know! You look lovely! Come on!" he said, getting really exasperated with the redhead. If all gingers were like this, maybe he didn't want to be ginger so much.

Donna opened the door, it flying back with the force of the wind; she squealed loudly in response.

"Donna! Come on!" the Doctor said, holding out his arms to catch her.

"Jump, Donna, jump!" Rose bellowed from inside the TARDIS.

"I can't do it!" Donna said, her voice full of fear.

"Yes, you can, Donna. Trust me, Donna Noble, you can do this."

Donna breathed in heavily, mustering all her courage that she had in every bone in her body. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she jumped, screaming all the while, and landed on something warm and hard - the Doctor.

"Sorry!" she said, as the Doctor shook his head.

"Just glad you did it," he said, as Donna lifted herself from the ground; Rose had ran and shut the doors, so gave Donna a hand up while she was there. The TARDIS was in flight in the Vortex for now, so it was a (slightly) smoother ride.

* * *

Stepping out onto the roof of some high-rise building, Donna checked her watch with yet another sigh.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was spluttering and coughing loudly; the TARDIS was smoking, pillows of smoke erupting from the interior.

Rose didn't look concerned - instead she went straight to Donna and sat down beside her, put her arm around the older woman's shoulder. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

Donna nodded weakly. "I'm sure I'll live," she said, bitterly, staring over London. They could see most of the city from where they were. The two girls sat down, hands clasped together for support - or, at least, support for Donna.

"The funny thing is, for a spaceship," the Doctor said, joining them, squeezing in between Donna and Rose, the latter of which gave him a death glare for making her budge, "She actually hardly flies. At all. So we best give her a couple of hours. Are you all right?" he opened the question for both of them. Rose took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, letting him know she was fine.

"Doesn't matter," Donna said, shrugging her shoulders in a trying-to-be-indifferent-but-really-hurting-inside kind of manner.

"Did we miss it?" he asked.

"Ye-ah," Donna said, drawing out the word. She looked out over the city of London.

"You can still book another date. Maybe a summer wedding?" the Doctor said.

"Yeah. 'Course."

"You've still got the honeymoon," Rose said, trying to lift Donna's mood.

"Yeah - you're the one that hates Christmas, after all," the Doctor said, shutting up after a painful elbow in the ribs from Rose.

"Just a holiday, now, innit?" Donna said, squinting as the sun rose from behind a cloud.

"Yeah ... yeah ... sorry," the Doctor said, still holding Rose's hand, rubbing her knuckles.

"It's not your fault," Donna said.

"Oh! That makes a change from 'it's all your fault, Martian Boy!'" the Doctor said imitating Donna, which got a laugh out of both the women.

"Wish we had a time machine," Donna said, and the Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance, "Then we could go back. Make it right."

"... Yeah, yeah. But ... even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline," the Doctor said.

"Apparently," Rose butted in, and Donna's eyes narrowed suspiciously at them.

"Whatever," Donna said, and shivered; it was the end of December and she was in a sleeveless dress, while the Doctor was in a suit and Rose in a snug Abercrombie and Fitch hoodie. The Doctor removed his suit jacket and placed it around Donna's shoulders; she looked at him gratefully, before frowning.

"God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit my cousin's rat," she said, but nevertheless pulled it closer around her.

"I don't think of myself as a rat," the Doctor said, one finger to his chin, "Maybe a ferret? A cute hamster? Oh, a guinea pig!"

"Is he actually saying what type of rodent he would like to be?" Donna asked, leaning over the Doctor to ask Rose.

Rose laughed. "Yep. Yesterday he was contemplating what type of jam he'd like to be."

"As long as it wasn't different types of marmalade," Donna said, also laughing.

The Doctor's eyes went wide. "There are different types of marmalade?" he asked seriously.

"Oh, no," Rose said dramatically, and both heads flipped in her direction. "You didn't just get him onto the subject of marmalade. That's like talking about bananas - we'll never get him to stop."

Donna laughed, as the Doctor launched into a lecture about the importance of bananas in a balanced diet and how it was he that invented the banana darquai.

Both girls were in stiches, but the Doctor was now fumbling through his pockets for something.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but you'll need to put this on," he said, producing a gold wedding ring.

"Mr. Sensitive. Do you have to go rubbing it in?" Donna said, before pointing her finger at him. "And don't bother answering, it was a rhetorical quesiton."

The Doctor mumbled something Donna couldn't hear, but Rose did - something about the shock of Donna knowing what a rhetorical question was. Rose thumped him on the arm.

"Ouch!" He protested loudly, but almost dropped the ring over the ledge - it wouldn't have reached the ground in one piece after falling twenty-something stories. And it was the only one he had. He suddenly turned quite serious. "Those creatures can trace you, Donna. This is a bio-damper. It should hide you from any sonar, radar, scanner, satillite - basically, it should keep you hidden."

"With this ring, I thee bio-damp," he said, looking quite pleased with himself for making that little joke up.

"That's so cheesy," Donna said.

"And I witness the joining of ... " Rose said, pretending to be the minister, before noticing Donna's stricken face and promptly shutting up.

"So, come on then," Donna said, semi-brightly, evidently trying to change the subject, "Weird Robot-Santas - what are they for?"

The Doctor smiled. "Ah, your basic robo-scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. We met them last Christmas," he said, guesturing to himself and Rose.

"Why? What happened last Christmas?" Donna asked, confused.

"Great big alien spaceship?" Rose asked, looking at Donna, who shook her head. "Hovering over London? You didn't notice?"

"I had a killer hangover," Donna said, as if that was an excuse. Rose and the Doctor exchanged glances.

"Spent last Christmas over there, Powell Estate," the Doctor said, nodding in it's general direction, "Good place, except if you've got Jackie Tyler making Christmas dinner. I wanted some turkey with my gravy, but apparently that was a luxury."

"Oi," Rose said, punching him on the arm, "Don't go slagging my mother's cooking. It may have been, as you put in 'swimming in a gravy lake', but that doesn't mean it wasn't good."

"Maybe that's because you got some turkey. All I got were overcooked sprouts and potatoes that looked like Jackie had picked them, then put them straight on the plate and served. And anyway, you can't talk, Tyler, you put over half of yours on Mickey's plate when he was watching Harriet Jones's speech."

Rose shrugged. "He was looking a bit peaky. But Mum's cooking isn't her speciality."

"Yes. I'll keep her in mind if I ever want a haircut. But I don't want it dyed pink like that woman who was in when we went to visit. That was nasty," he said, shaking his head. Rose winced, and nodded.

"It was neon pink," Rose explained to a bewildered Donna, who had been watching this whole exchange with wide eyes. The Doctor looked at Donna, as if she'd just appeared out of thin air. He shook his head - he'd actually forgotten she was there, she hadn't been this quiet in ages.

"Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know ..." he said, changing the subject with abrupt force. He looked at her, as if analyzing her. Donna rolled her eyes and was about to speak when the Doctor spoke again.

"What's your job?" he asked her, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of the pocket of his jacket that Donna was still wearing.

"I'm a secretary," she said, eyeing the sonic screwdriver.

"It's weird," the Doctor said, scanning her up and down with the sonic, "I mean - you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important ... "

Donna raised her hand for another slap. The Doctor looked at Rose.

"I'm being rude again, aren't I?" he asked her, and she nodded, smirking.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Donna was quicker. "If you're going to say something about how I'm not something, I'mma punch you in the face."

Rose could actually imagine that vividly.

"What kind of secretary are you?" Rose asked, as the Doctor was busy shaking himself out of his scared-like state.

"I'm at H.C Clements. That's where I met Lance - I was tempting. I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought - I'm never gonna fit in here, everyone got at least a couple of A-Levels and all I've got was my GCSE's and A-Level Drama, and that's isn't going to help me as a secretary, is it?"

"At least you've got an A Level," Rose said, and Donna nodded.

"Go on, Donna," the Doctor added, and Rose elbowed him.

"Then Lance made me a coffee," Donna said dreamily, the love-struck look back on her face. "I mean, that just doesn't happen, ever. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance - he's the head of HR! He doesn't need to bother with little old me! But he was nice, and funny."

Rose smiled, and Donna smiled dreamily back at her.

"And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him - one cup of coffee. That was it."

"Like a taxi on a street corner at 2am," the Doctor whispered to Rose, and she beamed and nodded. Donna wasn't paying attention.

"When was this?" he asked.

"Six months ago."

"Bit quick," the Doctor said, "To get married."

"Well ... he insisted," she said, the dreamy voice dropping, and the Doctor and Rose knew that it was probably Donna that insisted they got married, not Lance. "And he nagged me, and nagged me, and nagged me some more ... and finally he wore me down, and I just gave in."

"What does H.C Clements do?" the Doctor muttered.

"Security codes, entry codes," Rose said, and both the Doctor and Donna looked up. "ID Cards, am I right?"

Donna nodded. "If you ask me, it's a posh name for 'locksmiths'."

"Keys ..." the Doctor muttered, again, musing over this latest news.

"Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the conseqences. Face the music, as they say. Oh, that is gonna be so shaming. We had a reception organised," Donna said, as the Doctor offered a hand to Donna up, who refused. He then helped Rose up, who took the hand.

"Where is it at?" Rose asked, as the trio walked back to the TARDIS.

"The Colbalt Hotel. In the Birmingham Suite," she said. "It's posher that the Manchester Suite," she whispered to Rose who laughed.

"The Colbalt Hotel, Hayden Road, Chiswick," the Doctor repeated the information, setting the coordinates for Donna's reception.

"Oh, and it had Christmas trees everywhere, and everyone from Chiswick was coming. Literally, honestly, I think Mum invited the whole town! And everyone from H.C Clements is coming," Donna said to Rose. She turned to the Doctor. "You can explain, Martian Boy."

"Yeah ... I'm not from Mars," the Doctor said, and Donna nodded dismissively.

"Whatever. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken."

* * *

Heartbroken was certainly not the word the Doctor would have used.

Everyone was dancing, happy as larry. The Doctor briefly wondered why it was 'happy as larry'. What about 'happy as Paul' or 'happy as David', hmm?

Everyone stopped, the music came to an abrupt halt.

Donna looked thunderstruck, but her face was quickly changing from shock to sheer rage. She folded her arms across her chest, her face turning the same colour as her hair in a suprisingly short amount of time. An older-than-Donna, blonde woman pushed her way forward but didn't say anything, as if waiting for Donna to speak. Which she eventually did, but after a very awkward pause.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna stated. It wasn't a question as much as it was a statement, and all the guests looked at the floor.

A black man had also come to the forefront, and from his attire the Doctor assumed it was the groom, Lance. "Donna ... what happened to ya?" he asked.

"You had the reception without me!" Donna's voice rose an octave.

There was another pregnant pause, and the Doctor decided to break it. "Hello! I'm and the Doctor and this is Rose," he said cheerfully, pointing at each of them in turn as Rose waved.

"They had the reception without me!" Donna said, turning to them.

"I gathered that," the Doctor said, gesturing to the crowd.

"Well it was all paid for," a peroxide blonde woman piped up. The Doctor would have said she had the blondest hair of anyone he knew, but that was before he'd met Jackie. "So why not enjoyed it while you went galavanting off God knows where?"

"Yes, thank you, Nerys," Donna spat. Finally, the famous Nerys made her appearance at long last. To be honest, her shade of blonde was a little too blonde for the Doctor's tastes.

"Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end," the older-than-Donna woman said, and from her stern voice the Doctor and Rose deducted (like the great investagators they were) that she was Donna's mum. "I'm on Earth"? Very funny. What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick because I'd love to know ... "

As if on cue, the whole room started shouting at Donna, demanding to know what had happened and where she'd been. Rose had been so shocked she'd taken a step back in surprise. Out of the blue, Donna burst into tears and the black man - Lance, presumably - had run forward and taken her into a hug. Donna'd managed to turn Lance around so she had her back to the crowd, and winked at the Doctor and Rose through her fake tears. The Doctor and Rose smirked at each other.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose had retreated to the bar to get some peace and quiet to find out what exactly had happened to Donna.

"Do you have any idea?" Rose asked him, as he ordered drinks from the bar.

"Not a scooby. What do you want?" he replied, drumming his fingers against the bar impatiently.

"A vodka and Coke," Rose said instantly, ordering her usual tipple, before realising she couldn't drink alcohol for the next seven-or-so months. "Just a Diet Coke, then," she said, and the Doctor decided to join her on the non-alcoholic front and ordered a Fanta. He'd gotten a strange look from the barman for that, but Rose was secretly pleased - not only was he not having alcohol to make her feel no-so left out, but because a alcohol-influenced Doctor was not what Donna need right now, unless what Donna needed was a good conga, a karaoke rendition of _'I Will Survive'_ and banana daquari's all round.

"How you you have money?" she asked, frowning as the barmen left to make their drinks.

"I took some that flew out of the ATM, silly," he said, kissing her nose. "I didn't just do it for a distraction."

"Ah. Clever Doctor."

"I know! Here you go," he said, handing it to her, and she drank deeply - she hadn't realised just how thirsty she was. "Do you have any idea?" he asked her this time, and her dark eyebrows shot up so they collided with her hairline.

"You're really asking me?" she said, and he nodded.

"You have a nack for hitting the nail on the head when it comes to these sorts of things," he said, and she raised an eyebrow. "You do!" he protested, and turned to face her. "What's your opinion, Lewis?"

"That she done a runner 'coz she got cold feet or something," Rose said bluntly, burping loudly due to the large amount of fizzy cola she'd drank in a astonishingly short amount of time.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. But one thing I'm sure of is that your actions are disgusting, Tyler," he said, waving a hand in front of his face as if he smelt it.

"Funny, Timey," she said, hitting him on the arm, but sipped her drink.

"I'mma get bruises," he muttered, rubbing his arm. Rose caught his mutter and smiled.

"You really need to speak up, because I'm not hearing you properly," she said, cupping a hand around her ear. All she got in return was a scowl. She was laughing when her phone vibrated to tell her she'd receieved a text message.

"_'Hey babe, how are you, phoned house Jackie said you were in Rome, not bad for some! Jackie says you have news - tell tell! Gimme a phone when you have time, love Keish._'" Rose read aloud, and smiled. It really warmed her heart to think her friends were still asking about her even after three years. She'd have to get them all around for a baby shower sometime.

"Are you missing them? We can go and see them after?" the Doctor said, noticing Rose's slightly misty eyes.

"Really?" Rose seemed delighted.

"Yeah, okay, but - " Halfway through he was attacked by Rose.

"Thank you!" she said, and kissed him soundly on the lips. She frowned. "But what?"

"Can I borrow your phone? I left mine in the TARDIS," he said, and she laughed, handing it over.

"I have an idea," he said, and did a WAP search for H.C Clements.

"Ah, are you going to use ... " she said, and the Doctor shook the sonic screwdriver in answer to her question. He held it to the phone, as Rose cast her eyes around to see if anyone was looking. The phone beeped, and the Doctor sighed.

"Look," he said, showing the phone to Rose. _'Sole Prop. TORCHWOOD'_ was on the screen.

"Shoulda known Jack was involved with this somehow."

"Nice thought, but somehow, I don't think it's Jack's Torchwood. I think it's Torchwood One, remember he said he was Torchwood Three?" he said, and Rose nodded, enlightened.

"As in the one that nearly sent me flying through a void," Rose said, rubbing her sides in memory. "That really hurt as well."

"We should sue them," the Doctor said, and closed the phone with a snap, stowing the sonic safely away in his pocket.

"What about that guy, Doctor?" Rose said, leaning her head on his shoulder, her arm around his waist possessively as two girls had come up on his blind side, evidently to pretend to order drinks and chat him up at the same time. The two girls had just acted like they were going to the bar after they saw Rose - and the Doctor hadn't even realised.

"What guy?"

"That guy over there," she said, pointing to her free arm to a twenty-something year old slightly geeky man, who had a video camera.

"What about him? Wanna ask what kind of hair gel he's using? Because the wet look is_ so_ 90's ... "

"Uh, for something so clever you can be thick. If he's taping the reception, he'll have probably taped the wedding as well, Dumbo."

"Rose Tyler, you're a genius," he said, kissing her soundly, before taking her hand and dragging her over to the man. "But Dumbo is kinda last body, don't you think?"

"Maybe, Timey," she said, nudging his shoulder. He made a face as he tried to wind around the dancers to the man.

"Hey, mate," the Doctor said, approaching him. "You didn't tape the wedding as well, did you?"

"'Course," the man said, smiling. "I taped the whole thing - they've all had a look, once or twice. They said 'sell it to _You've Been Framed'_. I said 'more like _the News'_. Here we are ..." he said, locating the right disk and slotting it into the camera. Donna's face appeared on the screen, walking down the aisle. She was beaming, and then suddenly her face went into a scream as she disappeared in what seemed to Rose like a lot of gold dust.

"Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping," the man said, smiling again.

"It can't be!" the Doctor said, disbelief evident on his face. "Play it again!" he demanded, and he looked so worried that Rose didn't even comment on his rudeness.

His brow furrowed incredulously. "But that looks like ... Huon Particles!" he said, whipping off his glasses in a movie so sudden Rose took a step back.

"What's that?" she said, her brow imitating his now. He didn't get this worked up over nothing.

"That's impossible, that's ... ancient! Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that ... " he trailed off, looking around, and Rose turned around to see he was looking at Donna. "That it can't be hidden by a bio-damper!" he exclaimed, and grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her to the nearest window.

"Oh, my God," Rose said, as the foreboding Santas came up the drive, the gravel crunching under their black boots.

"Come on, we gotta warn Donna!" he said, pulling her back to the party. He ran up to Donna, who was dancing with Lance.

"Hiya," she said, before noticing their panicked look. "Something's wrong."

"They've found you," the Doctor said simply, the panicked look still wild in his eyes.

"But you said I was safe!" Donna protested, as Lance looked on dumbly.

"The bio-damper doesn't work. We've got to get everybody out," the Doctor said, looking for exits.

"Oh, my God ... it's all my family ... " she said, looking around at everyone enjoying themselves, laughter in air.

"Out the back door!" Rose said, pointing, and the Doctor once again seized her hand and ran, Donna hot on their heels. Lance stood rooted in the stop, struck.

"It's blocked!" Rose said, as two more Santas made their way up that road as well.

"Maybe not," he said, running over to the window. Another two Santas were there as well.

"We're trapped!" Donna exclaimed, and Rose rushed over to her, giving her a hug to comfort her. The Doctor, however, had his eyes on the remote control the Santas were raising forebodingly.

"Christmas trees ... " he said aloud, and Rose whipped her head around, fear apparent. Last time Christmas trees had been involved ...

"What about them?" Donna asked, and Rose got there before the Doctor could. The Santas were inside, and stood opposite the DJ decks, opposite the Christmas trees.

"They kill," she said, and they ran back to the party, and a bunch of kids were standing next to the tree.

"Get away from the tree!" they all said, getting people as far away from the tree as possible.

"Out! Lance, tell them!"

Rose saw the Santas push a big, red button out of the corner of her eyes. Big, red buttons were never a good sign.

"Doctor!" she yelled, and he was over the other side of the room, getting peope away from the trees. She jerked her head in their direction.

"Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna ... oh!" Sylvia trailed off, as the baubles rose up in the air, dotting themselves around the room. The Doctor ran over to Rose. Everyone was staring at them, muttering appreciatively.

"They're so pretty!" Rose heard someone say, and they did look pretty, all red and glitterly. But Rose would bet her Converse that they weren't as pretty as they seemed.

Her thought came true three seconds later as the baubles exploded.

Everyone screamed, diving out the way, taking cover from the killer christmas baubles. The Doctor pulled Rose over to the DJ decks, laying over her in a vain attempt to protect both her and the defenseless little baby inside of her. He was getting angry as he thought about the harm one of those baubles could do to their little baby, still very vunerable inside of Rose, as a bauble exploded right where Rose was standing about two seconds earlier.

He saw Donna pull Lance under an table, and he hoped this chaos would stop soon, that the world would stop exploding, because Huon particles were not good news, in any way, shape or form.


	17. Araconophobia Strikes Back

**Araconophobia Strikes Back**

**okay, so the Runaway Bride is going to be in four parts. It's longer than i would have liked it to be. in one part, **

**this would have been 9000+ words. ****part three, then! part four hopefully later today if not definitely tomorrow.**

**I don't know if I'll do ****every chapter of Series 3, as I have a good idea for a sequel, so maybe**

**i'll do every second episode? or maybe the bits inbetween, and ****some important episodes ****eg. Smith and Jones (meeting Martha), ****Gridlock **

**(return to New Earth), ****Blink (going back to 1969), etc? Let me know episodes, please, as I don't mind but don't wanna do them all! suggestions are _very_ welcome!**

* * *

Finally, the baubles stopped exploding and the Doctor tentively raised his head, not wanting to leave Rose unprotected if they weren't done with their attack. But the Santas were in a straight line opposite the DJ decks, and the Doctor suddenly had an idea.

"Rose," he said, rolling off her.

"Yeah," she breathed, no-one was making a sound, no-one dared to breathe.

"I have an idea. Put these on," he said, producing a pair of green ear protecters he'd bought when he was in his second body and his companions of the time had made him go to a rock concert. Not the best of ideas, but he'd bought the ear protectors and they'd muffled out noise to such a extent he didn't hear anyone, even when they were shouting in his ear. He wanted Rose to be as far away from the speakers as possible but also as close to him as possible, and it wasn't going to work both ways.

"What are they for?" she asked, holding them in her hands.

"No time. I'll tell you later," he said, taking them out her hands and putting them over her ears for her, kissing her forehead reassuringly. She smiled back up at him, and made to stand up, but he pushed her back.

"Stay low," he mouthed, and Rose nodded, understanding.

"Oi!" the Doctor yelled, now addressing the Santas. Rose turned on her knees and looked over the decks, so only her eyes were visable. She could see other people doing the same. "Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver ... " he waved the sonic, and picked up a microphone, flipping it over in his hand before speaking into it, the sonic next to the amplifiers. " ... don't let him near the sound system," he switched on the sonic, and the room filled with a horrible, screeching noise that made everyone's ears hurt. Rose's were okay but she could still hear; because of her genetic makeup combined with pregnancy she would be senstive to noise, the Doctor knew. Hence the ear protecters, but Rose still clamped her hands to her ears, her eyes shut; but it wasn't as bad as Donna, who was screeching at the top of her voice.

The noise stopped, and she heard the Doctor fall to his knees beside her, removing the ear protectors. "Are you all right?" he asked, stroking her forehead lovingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, smiling; she kissed him quickly and stood up, shocked at what she saw before her.

Santa had exploded.

Kids were screaming, parents where crying, and Donna was bossing.

Nothing new there, then.

"Let's go help, then," Rose said, and pulled him into the centre of the fray. The Doctor zoomed on autopilot to the robots.

"Oooh, look at that, remote control for the decorations," he said, showing Rose and Donna (who had arrived hot on their heels) the remote control. "But there's a second control for the robots. They're not scavengers anymore ... I think someone's taken possession," he said, now examining the head of a robot.

"Never mind all that, you're a doctor, and people have been hurt," Donna said, tugging his arm, trying to get him to tend to some kids who were still traumatised from seeing Santa explode.

"I'll help," Rose offered, and went to go help; but the Doctor's reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her backwards.

"No," he said, gently but firmly. "I don't know when or if these baubles will explode again, and I don't really want either of you," he gestured to her stomach and then to her face, "Getting hurt, okay?" he said, gently kissing her forehead and Rose nodded; sometimes, it was quite easy to forget that there was someone else she had to put in front of herself now.

Donna hadn't missed this exchange. "You're pregnant," she said, as if it answered many unanswered questions. Rose nodded slowly - how would she react? She's just missed her wedding and Rose was just swanning in, flaunting the fact she was pregnant? Rose couldn't help but smile, everytime someone mentioned her pregnancy.

Instead of being jealous or any other kind of negative emotion, Donna looked really happy for the first time since she'd met her. "Congrats. Gosh, why didn't you say earlier?" she squealed, hugging Rose tightly.

"Just wasn't really the time," Rose said, shrugging, and all the while the Doctor was scrutinizing a bauble; but Donna hadn't missed the proud little smirk that had spread across his face as well.

"Oh, don't think I was going to miss you out!" Donna said, and threw her arms around him as well; the Doctor seemed shocked for a moment, but after he was released smiled, then went back to looking at the bauble.

"Now's not really the time to talk about it, Donna," the Doctor said, turning the bauble over in his hands. Donna got the message and changed the subject.

"So, do these things want me dead?"

"Nah, they wanted you alive," the Doctor said. He threw a bauble to Donna, as Rose picked one off the floor. "Look, they're not active now."

"All I'm saying is that they didn't make it seem like that," Donna said.

"Gotta think of the bigger picture... there's still a signal!" the Doctor said, holding the robot's head to his to hear. He dashed away out of the room, leaving it in a total state of panic; Rose and Donna made to follow when a tugging on Donna's arm made her stop, and Rose stopped as well, not wanting to leave Donna on her own.

"Donna ... who is he? Who is that man?" Donna's Mum, Sylvia, sounded terrified. Donna just turned her back and ran out the room. Rose didn't follow. She felt a pang in her heart for Sylvia, who only wanted the best for her only daughter. She saw a striking similiarity to herself and her Mum, and it was definitely different seeing the situation from an outsider's eye. It made Rose feel sad that all those times Jackie was worried about her safety, she just brushed it off, never truly answering questions. Both her and Sylvia deserved more than that. Sylvia had turned away to join her husband, and Rose made a snap decision.

"Sylvia," Rose said, and the older woman turned around. "He's the Doctor, and don't worry - he'll sort all this out, I promise. He always does. He's a complete stranger, to everyone. Except me. Sort of. Anyway, don't worry, he's not a 'bad man' or anything. He's just a man trying to save the world, and your daughter is helping him. You should feel proud of her, not scared for her," Rose said reassuringly, and Sylvia nodded, wiping away tears. Rose patted her on the arm, before running out to join the Doctor and Donna, feeling a lot better about herself. Lance ran after her, shouting something about he deserved to know.

The Doctor and Donna, meanwhile, were outside in the garden. The Doctor was standing outside explaining to Donna exactly what a sonic screwdriver was. He stopped his explaination as soon as he seen Rose.

"Where did you run off to? I was getting a teensey little bit worried there."

"I was talking to someone. Why?"

"Erm, Tyler, we have a problemo. Of epic proportions. There's someone behind this, controlling the robo-force," the Doctor said, going back to scanning the robot head.

"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna wailed, her head in her hands. Lance put his arm around her.

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Oh!" the Doctor said, before raising the sonic into the air. "It's up there, something in the sky."

"In the sky?" Rose repeated, looking up. All she could see was a white clouds, with blue splashes of sky inbetween.

"Damnit, I've lost the signal - Donna, we've got to get to your office, H.C. Clements. I think that's where it all started. Lance - is it Lance? Can you give us a lift?" the Doctor said at ninety miles an hour. Lance went to protest, but the Doctor had ran off without waiting for an answer, so it looked like Lance had no choice.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose, Donna and Lance ran into H.C. Clements, thanks to Lance having a key - being head of HR doesn't come without it's advantages, and luckily for them no-one was around, it being Christmas Eve and all. The Doctor was speaking to Rose very fast, and she was nodding, before they rushed over to a computer.

"This might just be a locksmiths, but H.C. Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute," the Doctor explained to Donna and Lance, who both looked blank.

"Who are they?" Donna asked for both of them.

"They were behind the Battle of Canary Wharf," Rose said, looking over the Doctor's shoulder at what he was typing.

There was silence from Donna. Lance had nodded, understanding immediately.

"Cybermen invasion?" the Doctor said, looking blankly at her.

Donna just looked at him, inquiringly. She guestered for him to continue.

"Skies over London full of Daleks?" the Doctor said incredulously.

"Oh!" Donna said, as if a lightbulb had been turned on. The Doctor sighed, finally she had gotten it - or so he thought. "I was in Spain."

The Doctor hit himself on the forehead with his palm.

"They had Cybermen in Spain," Rose said, looking at Donna.

"Scuba diving?" Donna said, as if it was a passable excuse.

"That big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it," the Doctor said, moving at lightning speed to another computer, "Torchwood was destroyed - "

"By us," Rose supplied, unhelpfully in the present circumstances, but it caught Lance and Donna's attention.

" - but H.C. Clements stayed in business. I think... someone else came in and took over the operation," he finished, whacking the monitor with his fist, apparently fustrated with the lack of progress. "Ouch," he muttered, looking at his fist, which caused Rose to roll her eyes.

"What have I told you about hitting things?" she asked him, hands on hips. "It doesn't make things any better and in all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if one day you break your hand. Actually, I'd laugh."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "Can I take you back to the shop? Henricks might take you back. I'll say you're faulty; I want a girlfriend who will love me, not laugh at me," he said, pretending to be hurt. Rose didn't buy it and smacked him upside the head, which caused him to moan in pain again.

Donna huffed, inpatient. "Sorry to break up the domestics," she said, and the Doctor opened his mouth in a sarcastically annoyed way, "but what do they want with me?"

The Doctor turned serious blindingly quick. "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened. Say ... that's the TARDIS," he said, picking up a H.C. Clements mug, "and that's you," he picked up a pencil, "the particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!" he chucked the pencil inside the mug.

"You were pulled inside the TARDIS," Rose supplied helpfully this time, as Donna had no idea what the Doctor was on about.

"I'm a pencil inside a mug," Donna said weakly, looking at the mug in the Doctor's hand.

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up. Lance? What was H.C. Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?" He said, holding his sonic screwdriver, making an 'aah' noise as the screen he was looking for appeared on the screen.

"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager," Lance replied defensively, folding his arms across his chest. "Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?" He was angry now, anyone could see that; his hands were balled into fists by his side.

"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this ... " he said, turning the monitor around so Rose, Donna and Lance could see. " ... we're on the third floor."

He shot up from his seat, whispered something to Rose and they walked over to the lift, where Rose pressed the button to call the lift to their floor.

"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" he said, as Lance and Donna nodded. "Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there, then?" he asked, standing in the lift with Rose next to him.

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance's question was skeptical.

"No, we're showing you this building's got a secret floor," the Doctor said, pointing to the button.

"It needs a key, and only managers have one. Not even Lance has one," Donna said.

"I don't," the Doctor said simply, and held his sonic screwdriver to the lock. "Right then, thanks you two, we can handle this from here. Nice meeting you - see you later," he said.

"No chance, Martian," Donna said, and Rose smirked, "You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting you out of my sight." She joined them in the lift, as Rose squeezed the Doctor hand, trying not to laugh.

"Going down," the Doctor said, for no necessary reason.

"Lance?" Donna said pointedly, indicating with her head he should join them in the lift.

"Maybe I should go to the police?" he said meekly, pointing out the door.

"Inside," Donna said sharply, and Lance got in without hesitation.

"To honour and obey?" the Doctor quipped, still holding onto Rose's hand, leaning against the glass of the lift.

"Tell me about it mate."

"Oi!" Donna said, in reaction to Lance's comment.

There was silence in the lift after that. The ping of the lift ended it, and the four filed out of the lift and into the damp corrider with a greenish tinge.

"Offt, check out the eerie green light," Rose said, pointing to the walls.

Donna was asking if Mr. Clements knew about this place. The Doctor made to answer her, but instead made an 'ooh' sound. Rose turned around to see he wasn't looking at the walls.

"Transport," he said, pointing to some fancy scooters. Rose made an identical 'ooh' sound.

"Tres fancy. Trust Torchwood to import these from Japan," Rose said, fingering the engravings on the scooter that was in Japanese.

"Rightey-o then. Let's follow the corridor down, shall we?" he said, jumping on his own scooter as Rose claimed hers. Donna and Lance did likewise, and soon they were trundling down the corridor looking extremely comical. Rose looked at the Doctor and they both burst out laughing, and Donna soon got the joke; Lance, however, did not, and the three sped along laughing their heads off while Lance looked plain confused.

They eventually stopped laughing long enough to realise they'd come to a door which had 'Torchwood - Authorised Personnel Only' written in green on the door.

"You two," the Doctor said, pointing at Donna and Lance, "stay here. We," he pointed to himself and Rose, "need to get our bearings. Don't do anything. Seriously. Or go anywhere. Even more seriously. Get it?" he said, and both nodded. He turned the wheel and with a loud groan that indicated the door hadn't been opened in a while, the door opened to show a set of stairs. "Ladies first," he said, and Rose went up first, giving the Doctor a great view of her bum as she went up.

"You'd better come back!" Donna yelled, and the Doctor reluctantly dropped his gaze from Rose's backside to Donna.

"Couldn't get rid of you if I tried," he said, and looked up to see Rose was at the top already. He could hear Lance questioning Donna, with Donna's answer of 'July' making everything clear. The Doctor shook his head to himself; domestics, who could be bothered with them?

"Oi, Earth to Timey!" Rose called, and he saw he was pointing at a manhole. "I'm sorry, having a small moment here, I can't open the door."

"Ah, girlfriends these days, can't trust them," he said, and recieved another punch on the arm. He smiled at her and pushed the door, and even he struggled with it as the door was basically defying gravity.

The wind caught their hair as they stepped outside, Rose fully outside so the Doctor could poke his head out.

"Are we on a flood barrier?" Rose asked, looking around. As far as she could tell, they were in the middle of the Thames.

"Yep, seems so," the Doctor said, and they proceeded back down where Lance and Donna were still arguing about something-or-other. "Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath," he informed them, and Donna gaped.

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" she said, shocked. The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, thinking the same thing - Canary Wharf, anyone?

"I know! Unheard of," the Doctor said, semi-sarcastically, as the walked down the corrider and through a set of plastic drapes. Behind the drapes was some kind of labratory. There were test tubes of every colour imaginable and everything was bubbling, steaming, hissing, sparking or whistling.

The Doctor had a happy smile on his face, and Rose could tell he was in his element. "Oh, look at this! Stunning! Particle extrusion!" he said, running over to various pieces of equipment, explaining things to Rose at two hundred miles an hour, so Rose only picked out words like 'filter' and 'soft' and 'beautiful'.

"What does it do?" Donna asked, quite impatiently.

"Particle extrusion. Hold on ... " he said, running over and tapping another test tube; from where Rose was standing she could see his face through the water in the tube, so his face was completely distorted. She fought the urge to laugh. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."

"Your people?" Lance piped up, and Rose jumped; she'd forgotten he was even there. "Who are they? What company do you represent?"

Oooh, touchy.

"Oh, I'm a freelancer. But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result - Huon particles in liquid form," he said, and went around to a desk, where bottles of liquid were standing. He picked one up, fingering it gently, before walking over to Donna.

"And that's what's inside me?" Donna said, fainting, and the Doctor gently turned to the knob at the top of the bottle; the water glowed gold, and so did Donna.

"Oh, my God!" Rose said, standing beside the Doctor as Donna glowed.

"Because the particles are inert - they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then ... HA!" he yelled, and everyone jumped out of their skin, Donna holding a hand to her chest in fright. He become madly enthuastic again, and Donna and Lance looked shocked by his sudden change of mood. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle -- oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"

Donna slapped him. Rose clapped a hand to her mouth in laughter, whilst Lance winced.

"What was that for?" the Doctor said indignantly, and turned to Rose. "Was I being rude again?" he asked her, but she just turned away from him, laughing all the time. He scowled.

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna asked, hands on hips. The Doctor looked down at the floor, ashamed of himself slightly. "Right, just tell me - these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?" Donna asked, breathing heavily. Rose could tell she was terrified, and she rushed over to her, putting an arm around her shoulders in comfort. Rose really felt her soon-to-be husband should be doing her job, but he was more interested in the stuff going on around her than her.

"Yeah, of course they're not!" the Doctor said, but that was way too flippant for him.

"Doctor ... " Rose said warningly, but Donna got there first.

"Why did they get rid of them, then?"

The Doctor looked up from the ground, and sorrow was evident in his eyes. Uh-oh. Brooding emo Doctor was back.

"Because they were deadly," he said, softly, as Rose gasped, and Donna started shaking.

"Oh, my God ... " she said, clutching onto Rose for dear lift. Lance didn't even look the slightest bit bothered that his soon-to-be wife was dying.

"I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I'm not about to lose you. Too many people have been lose recently," the Doctor said, as Rose went to give a piece of her mind to Lance.

_Crash, bang, crash!_

The Doctor and Donna looked up, and Rose went rushing back to them, her anger towards Lance evaporating instantly; something was wrong, very wrong.

"Oh, she is long since lost!" A rasping voice rang out around the chamber, and a sliding wall went up to reveal a large hole in the ground. Rose was immediately reminded of Krop Tor, and the Doctor grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly; he'd obviously been having similar thoughts. Whether he was doing it for reassurance or to reassure her, she didn't know.

"I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe ... " the rasping voice said again. Everyone's gaze turned to Lance as he choked, his eyes wide in horror as he ran full plet out of the door.

_Good riddence_, thought Rose. _Donna could do so much better._

"... until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!" the raspy voice completed, as Rose clocked the robot Santas, with guns, lining the walls. Convienently, the guns were pointed at them. That sorted where the Santas came into the equation.

As Rose looked down into the pit, she knew that there was a lot more than bad-ass Santas and kidnapped brides going on here. Like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle, it just didn't seem to fit quite right yet, but Rose knew by now that it would. But one thing kept popping up in Rose's mind - a secret base underneath flood barriers? Dastardly, sneaky, good-for-nothing Torchwood.


	18. Oh Starry, Starry Night

**Oh Starry, Starry Night**

**warning for the rest of the story; chapter titles are getting weirder by the chapter.**

**final installment of the Runaway Bride! next time, Smith and Jones!**

* * *

Rose was dragged out her stupor by the Doctor shouting at ... well, nothing, really. Just a voice on an intercom. Again, Rose shuddered at the memory of the Doctor arguing about religion with the Devil/Satan/weird creature over intercom. She tuned back into his conversation, squeezing his hand as various memories of terrible emotions she'd experienced on Krop Tor flooded back to her, each more horrible than the last.

"Someone's been digging ... oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?" the Doctor was asking the voice, peering down the hole. Rose tugged on his hand, not wanting him to fall down the hole, no matter how deep it was.

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!" the voice answered, and Rose tightened her grip on his hand. Definitely not wanting him to fall down, then. Might just burn to a crisp.

"Really? Seriously? What for?" the Doctor asked, staying well back now.

A small voice came from their newest friend. "Dinosaurs," Donna said. The Doctor and Rose turned to her, to remind her that now was definitely not the right time for a joke, to find that Donna's face was completely serious.

"What?" Rose said, shocked. The Doctor was speechless, for once.

"Dinosaurs?" Donna repeated.

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" the Doctor had regained his power of speech.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help!" Donna said, arms in the air.

"Not helping," the Doctor said, shaking his head.

"Such a sweet couple," the raspy voice said again, and the Doctor once again turned his attention to it.

"Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?" He completely ignored the comment the voice had made.

"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night!" the voice rang out, filling the chamber.

"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!"

"And who are you with such command?" the voice said to the Doctor's command.

"I'm the Doctor," he said simply, and Rose beamed at him. Donna looked scared out of her wits.

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart," the voice said again, before a bright light over to the right indicated the voice had teleported from whereever she was in the sky to right here.

A giant, red spider sat in the corner. The Doctor gasped. "The Racnoss ... but that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!"

Donna was gasping for breath, nearly crying. "What wrong?" Rose said, kindly.

"I'm ... araconophobic," she managed to splutter, but pulled herself together.

"She's not a spider. She's an alien," Rose said, reassuring her that it was only her shape that was similar. Donna tried to keep her sights away from those pincers.

"Empress of the Racnoss," the Racnoss said, pulling herself up to her full height.

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or ... are you the only one?" the Doctor said, one eyebrow quirked.

"Such a sharp mind."

"That's it, the last of your kind," the Doctor said, and turned to Rose and Donna. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets." He almost spat the words.

The Racnoss seemed offended. "The Racnoss are born starving, is that our fault?" she said, snapping her pincers.

"They eat people?" Donna said, stunned, forgetting all about the spider.

"H.C. Clements, did he wear those - those erm, black and white shoes?" the Doctor asked Donna, who immediately laughed.

"He did! We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in spats," she said, and Rose chuckled, until the Doctor clicked his fingers and inicated to the ceiling, where Rose and Donna could see black-and-white shoes poking out from inside the web.

"Oh, my God!" Donna said, hands covering her mouth in shock.

"Mm. My Christmas dinner," the Racnoss said, licking her lips, as those she was remembering the taste of the unfortunate H.C. Clements.

"You shouldn't even exist! Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss - they were wiped out!" the Doctor said, in disbelief.

Donna, out of the corner of her eye, spotted Lance. Holding an axe. Containing the urge to jump and sing, Donna nudged Rose discreetly, and nodded to Lance. Rose smiled, but Lance wasn't bothered about Donna two minutes ago, why was he bothered now?

" ... Except for me," the Racnoss was saying, and Donna started speaking in a bid to distract her, despite shaking with fear with every word, she held strong.

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing. Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?" she asked, stuttering at a few words but managing to hold her attitude. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me."

"The bride is so feisty!" the Racnoss said.

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big ... thing. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!" Donna yelled to Lance, and Rose buried her head in the Doctor's shoulder; she didn't think she could bear the sight of blood (whatever colour it may be) in her nausous state.

The Doctor held onto Rose as Lance swung the axe in the Racnoss's direction; her eyes widened with shock for a second, before a smirk spread over the face. A similar smirk swept across Lance's face, and the Doctor's heart sank. He thought something was up with that guy. Both of them were laughing now, and Donna looked confused. Rose looked up from his shoulder, and sighed as well.

"That was a good one. Your face!" Lance said, lying the axe down on the ground.

"Lance is funny," the Racnoss said to Donna, snapping her pincers.

"What?" Donna said, well and truly confused.

"I'm sorry," Rose said quietly, grabbing Donna's hand.

"Sorry for what?" Donna said, withdrawing her hand from Rose's grip. "Lance, don't be so stupid, get her!"

"God, she's thick!" Lance said, pity evident in his gaze.

Donna just stared back at him.

"Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map," Lance said tauntingly, and Rose tried to comfort Donna, but she just shrugged the younger woman off.

"I don't understand," Donna wailed.

"How did you meet him?" the Doctor asked, his voice quiet.

"In the office, I've already told you this!"

"He made you coffee," Rose said, as she realised what Lance had done. She glared at Lance, furious at what he'd done to poor Donna.

"What?" Donna still wasn't getting it.

"Everyday, I made you coffee," Lance said, as if he was talking to an idiot or a small child.

"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months," the Doctor explained, still holding onto Rose, who looked ready to lunge at Lance any second.

"He was ... poisoning me?" Donna asked the Doctor, the reality sinking in.

"It was all there in the job title - Head of Human Resources."

"This time," Lance said, laughing along with the Racnoss, "It's personnel."

"But ... we were getting married," Donna pleaded with him.

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle," Lance said, and he rolled his eyes, before going on a rant. "Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap - _'oh, Brad and Angelina - is Posh pregnant?'_ X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me, dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia."

Donna took all this torrent of abuse with a look of hurt and confusion. The Doctor was now severely worried that Rose was going to punch Lance.

"I deserve a medal," Lance said proudly, puffing out his chest as if he really did derserve one.

"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?" the Doctor asked, disgusted.

"It's better than a night with her," Lance spat, looking at Donna.

"But I love you," she protested weakly, her hands clasped together.

"That's what made it easy," Lance said nastily. "It's like you said, Doctor -- the big picture -- what's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to ... go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"

"Who is this little physician?" the Racnoss said, before the Doctor could speak. Maybe that was a good thing, as colourful and words he wouldn't normally say were on the agenda.

"Like she," Lance didn't even refer to Donna by name now, just pointed at her, "said - Martain."

"Oh, I'm sort of... homeless. But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?" the Doctor said, pointing down into the pit.

Lance snorted. "I think he wants us to talk," he said, cocking his head to one side.

"I think so too," the Racnoss said, rearing herself up.

"Well, tough! All we need is Donna!" Lance jabbing his finger in Donna's direction.

"Kill this chattering little Doctor man!" the Racnoss bellowed, and Donna snapped.

"Don't you hurt him!" Donna said, more confidently than she looked, and the Dcotor looked at Rose.

"Shouldn't you be the one doing this?" he asked her, as Donna stood in front of him protectively.

"Ah. You can take care of yourself, surely, by now?" Rose said, standing beside him. The Doctor laughed, nodding.

"No, no, it's alright," the Doctor said, trying to push Donna out the way.

"No, I won't let them!" Donna's voice was frightened more than anything.

"At arms!" the Racnoss gave the orders to her robot men, who raised their guns.

"Ah, now, except," the Doctor said, stuttering slightly, thinking of something ingenius to say to stall her.

"Take aim!" The robots snapped into position.

"Now, I just wanna point out the obvious ... " the Doctor said, hands up in front of him.

"They won't hit the Bride," the Racnoss said, "they're such very good shots."

"Just - just - just - hold on, just a tick, just a tiny - just a little - tick," the Doctor called, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her closer to him. "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it ... the spaceship comes to her." Instead of turning the knob on the bottle clockwise, he turned it anti-clockwise, and Donna glowed again along with the bottle.

"Fire!" the Racnoss said, and shots fired from the guns; Rose ducked into the Doctor's shoulder as Donna screamed; but there was no need, as the TARDIS materalised around them, the Huon particles in Donna having connected with the TARDIS. Rose could hear the Racnoss shouting, "My key! My key!" loudly, as the TARDIS became a solid structure around them.

* * *

"Off we go!" the Doctor called, running up to the console and quickly sending them into the Vortex. Rose was hot on his heels and wasted no time in helping him. Donna, however, slowly made her way up the ramp and collapsed on the Captain's Chair.

"Oh, you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're gonna use it," the Doctor said, and Rose jumped up and down, spinning levers in all directions. "We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this. Donna - we're going back in time. Rose, we're going further back than we've ever gone before."

Rose was trying to stop herself squealing with excitment as this new adventure.

It was the Doctor who noticed Donna was crying first. Her shoulders were shaking up and down as silent tears slipped down her cheeks, her mascara become upset at the wetness. Rose felt her heart tug for her - it wasn't everyday you found out your fiancé was in alliance with a giant alien spider - and ran over to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. Donna looked up in thanks and Rose spoke to her quietly. The Doctor couldn't hear what they were saying but no doubt Rose would tell him later.

The TARDIS clicked audibly, and Rose looked up from comforting Donna, knowing that the sound meant they'd arrived.

"We've arrived," the Doctor said quietly, confirming Rose's thoughts. "Do you want to see?" Rose knew he was talking more to Donna than herself.

"I suppose," Donna said unenthusically, heaving herself off her perch.

The Doctor swung the monitor around, before frowning. "Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way is best," he said, and beckoned the two women over to the door. "Come on, you're the first humans - and half-humans - to see this," he said, smiling.

"Really," Donna said, sarcastically, although the effect was ruined because of her hiccuping slightly. "AllI wanna see is my bed."

"Rose Tyler, Donna Noble," the Doctor said, ignoring Donna's comment, "welcome to the creation of the Earth." And with that statement he swung the TARDIS doors open to ... nothing. Well, not nothing, but a bunch of rocks floating by and some beautiful coloured dust. It really was a spectacular site, and both Rose and Donna's mouth fell open. Donna was shocked because she never knew something so exquistly gorgeous could exist. Rose, because after everything she'd seen, nothing compared to the beauty of this. She fell in love with it straight away, and ran back to the console, picked up her digital camera (place there for easy grabbing) and took a picture.

"For Mum," she said, when the Doctor looked at her. He sighed, and nodded, taking her hand as she replaced the camera.

"We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas," the Doctor explained. He pointed over to where a faint light was visable against the pinky-purple clouds. "That's the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."

"It's ... it's ... " Donna was speechless.

"Beautiful," Rose breathed, as if the silence was something she daren't break.

Everyone stood in silence, just admiring the view.

"Where's the Earth?" Donna asked, watching a floating piece of rock.

"All around us ... in the dust," was the Doctor's answer.

"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just ... tiny," Donna said, holding her thumb and index finger together so they were less than a millimetre apart. Rose laughed.

"No, but that's what you do. The human race. Making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed," the Doctor said, squeezing Rose's hand as they looked at each other. Sometimes it was fun having someone else on board with them, even if it was better with two.

"So, I came out of all of this?" Donna's voice was shocked, but also quite humbled.

"Isn't that brilliant?" the Doctor answered her, as a piece of rock floated lazily past the doors of the TARDIS.

"I think that's the Isle of Wight," Donna said, and they all laughed at her joke. She seemed marginally better than when they had entered the TARDIS.

"Eventually, gravity takes hold. Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it," the Doctor explained, hand gestures inculded."All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the ... "

" ... Earth," Rose said, as the Doctor nodded and smiled.

"Earth," he repeated, as Donna nodded too. "But the question is ... what was that first rock?" he asked the rhetorical question.

Donna was halfway through shrugging her shoulders when she noticed it. "Look," she said, pointing to a star-shaped rock that was floating through the sky, a red star against the pink sky.

"The Racnoss ... " the Doctor muttered aloud, staring, before running back to the console, still shouting at the two women. "Hold on, the Racnoss are hiding from the war! What's it doing?"

The Racnoss Star seemed to be attracting all the other rocks; the rocks were zooming towards it, colliding with each other on the way. Donna recognised her 'Isle of Wight' rock go flying past her at sixteen times the speed it had floated past the TARDIS at.

"Exactly what you said," Rose said to the Doctor inside the ship, who came running to the doors.

"Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth ... they became the centre of the Earth. The first rock," the Doctor said, before the TARDIS shook violently, and the Doctor had to catch a stumbling Rose before she fell out of the TARDIS and became buried at the centre of the Earth. He doubted Jackie would be pleased about having the dig two thousands miles down to recover Rose (not that she would actually be able to, but he was absolutely sure Jackie would do it).

"What was that?" Donna said, holding onto the railing for dear life.

"Trouble!" the Doctor replied, as he closed the doors on the formation of the Earth.

The TARDIS was in for a bumpy ride, it seemed, as the Doctor, Rose and Donna were struggling told hold on as it made it's way through the Vortex. Rose could tell this wasn't the TARDIS acting up, she never was this bad; this was something else controlling the TARDIS.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna asked, screaming over the noise.

"Remember that little trick I pulled - particles pulling particles. It works in reverse - they're pulling us back!" he said, as he tried in vain to pilot the TARDIS but to no avail; it was out of his control now.

"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" Donna was using every bit of alien-spaceship-lingo she'd learnt from watching Star Trek and Stargate to communication with the Martian, even though he seemed to understand English.

"Honestly, backseat drivers. Usually it's Rose's job. Oh, wait a minute!" he exclaimed, halfway through his sentence. Rose sighed with relief; last time she'd told him what to do with the TARDIS he'd done an hour and forty-five minutes on backseat drivers, during which Rose had had breakfast, got dressed, painted her nails and watched the lastest episode of _Gossip Girl_. Not bad, considering she'd done all this while he followed her around moaning and groaning about the inconsistancy of backseat drivers and why they contridicted themselves.

"The extrapolator!" Rose said, as if this was some kind of brainwave.

"Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!" he said, propping it up against the central column. The TARDIS started to materalise in the chamber - the Racnoss was cackling away on the monitor - but the Doctor whacked the extrapolator and they dematerialised again, much to the Racnoss's dismay - she screamed aloud as they vanished.

* * *

The Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS in a flourish, as if presenting something wonderful. All Rose and Donna got was a eerie green corridor.

"We're about two hundred yards to the right, I think," the Doctor said, walking out into the corridor, surveying his surroundings with a keen eye. "Come on!" he yelled to the two women, running off down the corridor. After about five solid minutes of running full-plet, they reached the Thames Flood Barrier.

"But ... what do ... we do?" Donna asked, out of breath. She had her hands on her knees and was hunched over, panting. Rose was leaning against the wall, taking shallow breaths but luckily three years of running for her life had made her considerably fitter.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was 'listening' at a door with a stethescope. Donna raised her eyebrows at him, as Rose went beside him and put one of the stethescope ears in her own ear, to see if he really did hear anything.

"I don't know! I make it up as I go along! But trust me, I've got a history!"

"He does do that shockingly well," Rose added.

"But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles - but what for?" Donna was getting her breath back.

"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist but the Racnoss are stuck!" the Doctor said, as Rose 'aah'ed, both of them unaware that behind them, for the second time that day, Donna was being bride-napped by a bad-ass Robot - although not a Santa, this time. Just a normal robot, if you could get a 'normal' robot. Maybe in the 67th Century, but not in the 21st. The Robot had covered Donna's mouth so she couldn't scream, and had silently dragged her away, unbeknown to the Doctor and Rose.

"They've just been in hibernation for billions of years. Frozen. Dead. Kaput! So you're the new key. Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it and you have never been so quiet," the Doctor said, turning around to find Donna, dragging Rose with him as he took the stethescope along with him, and Rose's ear was still in one of it's ears.

"Sorry," he said, and Rose shook her head, indicating that it was okay. "And argh!" he groaned, looking up and down the corridor. He soniked the door to the flood barrier open, only for him and Rose to be confronted by an armed robot.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rose asked, calmly looking in the robot's eyes.

"I think I am, Tyler," the Doctor replied, calm as could be, pointing his sonic screwdriver right between the robot's eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, Donna had been tied up in the Racnoss's web, beside Lance. She sneered at him.

"I hate you," Donna spat, looking at him with a glare that could melt icebergs.

"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart," Lance said back, not exactly in the nicest way either. The Racnoss chuckled.

"My golden couple. Together at last - your awful wedded life. Tell me; do you want to be released?" she asked, taunting them.

"Yes!" Donna and Lance chorused, hope spread across both of their faces.

"You're supposed to say 'I do'!" the Racnoss said, clacking her pincers together threateningly.

Lance looked at Donna with an 'I'll do it if you do it' kind of expression. "I do," he said, looking at her.

"I do," Donna said, glaring back at him.

"I don't!" the Racnoss cackled evilly. Donna and Lance glared identical glares at her. "Activate the particles! Purge every last one!" she commanded, and Donna and Lance began to glow.

"What the ... " Lance said, as Donna rolled her eyes in a 'not again' sort of way, as if she glowed on a regular basis.

"And release!" the Racnoss commanded again, and the particles flew from Donna and Lance and into the hole in the ground, the hole glowing gold as they made their journey down to the centre of the Earth. "The secret heart unlocks, and they will awaken from their sleep of ages!" the Racnoss continued.

"Who will? What's down there?" Donna asked, confused.

"God!" Lance said, disbelievingly. "How thick can you be?"

"My children, the long lost Racnoss. Now will be born to feast on flesh!" the Racnoss called, and Donna flinched as she heard the pitter-patter of spider legs as they crawled up the side of the pit. The Racnoss frowned, if spiders could frown. "My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web."

Lance's eyes widened as he realised the implications of her words. "Use her! Not me! Use her!"

The Racnoss, Lance and Donna did not notice a cloaked robot, alone until the rest of them, ascending the stairs behind the Racnoss.

The Racnoss found this hiliarous for some reason. "Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady-friend. The Empress does not approve." She cackled, snapping her pincers, and with that simple statement the bonds keeping Lance in the web loosened, and he fell to this death in the pit.

"Laaaaaance!" Donna screamed, watching her fiance fall. True, she hated him right now for what he put her through, but that didn't mean she wanted him dead.

"My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them!" the Racnoss said, seemingly unemotional about Lance's death. She turned to the stairway and hissed. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man and his little blonde friend."

"Oh, well then," the Doctor said, his voice muffled by the cloak as he swung it off, revealing him in front with a mask covering his face, and Rose crouched behind him.

"Worth a try, though," Rose said, and the Doctor nodded, before pointing it at the web that held Donna.

"I've got you, Donna!" he said, as the web loosened.

"I'm gonna fall!" Donna screeched, holding onto a strand of web as if it was the last Pringle at the office Christmas party.

"No, you're not! You're gonna swing!" the Doctor said, arms outstretched as if he was going to catch her.

"Arrrrgggghh!" Donna screamed, as she flew over the hole.

"I've got ya!" the Doctor said. Donna screamed as she missed his arms and instead collided with the metal wall with a loud bang that made Rose wince. Both her and the Doctor looked over the edge to see Donna sprawled out on the ground, a pissed off expression on her face.

"Oh ... sorry!" the Doctor said, arranging his features into an apologetic half-smile.

Donna just scowled in reponse. "Thanks, for nothing!" she said, getting up slowly, cracking her back.

"The doctor-man amuses me," the Racnoss said - and Rose realised she'd been silent through the whole exchange, which was quite unlike her.

"Empress of the Racnoss," the Doctor said, going into world-saving mode, "I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now."

"These men are so funny," the Racnoss said.

"What's your answer?" the Doctor said, slightly impatient.

"Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline," the Racnoss said, clacking her pincers together, laughing.

"Then what happens next is your own doing," the Doctor warned.

"I'll show you what happens next," the Racnoss hissed, before turning to her robots. "At arms!"

The robots immediately raised their guns. Rose started smirking; she knew what the Doctor was planning.

"Take aim!"

The robots aimed their guns at the Doctor and Rose.

"And - " the Racnoss started, but was interrupted by the Doctor.

"Relax," he said, and the robots went limp and floppy. Rose had a mega-watt grin on now.

"What did you do?" Donna demanded, looking up.

"Guess what I've got, Donna. Pockets."

He held the remote control up, waving it so both the Racnoss and Donna could see.

"How did that fit in there?"

"Oh, they're bigger on the inside!" the Doctor said, an identical grin to Rose's on his face now.

The Racnoss hissed, bringing the trio's attention back to her. "Robo-forms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh."

"Oh, but he's ain't from Mars," Rose butted in, smiling.

"Then where?"

The Doctor's face grew slightly darker and more brooding. "My home planet is far away and long-since gone. But its name lives on," he took a breath, as if saying the name took a tremendous amount of energy. "Gallifrey."

The Racnoss went wild before he'd even finished saying the name. Rose unconsciously took a step behind the Doctor, quite shocked by the Racnoss' forceful reaction.

"They murdered the Racnoss!"

Rose suddenly knew why she was angry, but there was no need to take it out on her boyfriend.

"I warned you," the Doctor said, his voice still full of dark. "You did this." He put his hand in his pocket and produced a number of glittering, red baubles.

"No! No! Don't! No!" the Racnoss was panicking.

The Doctor just shot her a look, before throwing the baubles into the air one after the other. Some surrounded the Empress while other destroyed corridors, letting the water from the Thames flood the building. The Racnoss screamed as water swirled down the pit.

"My children!" she screamed, grief-stricken. A fire began to burn at her feet, and soon she wsa consumed by flames. "No! My children! My children!"

The Doctor was standing watching the carnage with a dark look on his face, soaking wet thanks to the water, before turning to Rose.

"Come on, let's get you guys out of here before it collapses!" the Doctor said, as they ran to meet Donna.

"Transport me!" was the last thing they heard from the Racnoss as she teleported back to her ship.

The Doctor, Rose and Donna ran up the stairs, panting and out of breath. They ran up to the Thames Flood Barrier, to get to high ground.

The Racnoss web star was disintergrating before their eyes, and Donna whooped loudly.

Rose and the Doctor smiled at each other, hands clasped together. Another evil alien defeated, all in a day's work.

"There's just one problem," Donna said, panting, a smile on her face as Rose and the Doctor turned their heads towards her.

"What?" the Doctor said, confused.

"We've drained the Thames," Donna said, pointing downwards. Rose and the Doctor followed her finger, and laughed aloud. All there was left was mud, and the boats were honking their horns loudly.

"Ah, all in a day's work, eh?" Rose said through the laughter, and they all collapsed into giggles once more.

* * *

The TARDIS materalised right across the road from Donna's house. Rose, the Doctor and Donna all stepped out of the TARDIS, Donna still in her sodden wedding dress. She walked halfway to her house and then turned to face the Doctor and Rose, who were leaning against the TARDIS.

"There we go. Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything," the Doctor said, stroking the outside of the TARDIS.

"More than I've done," Donna said, and with her words the Doctor scanned her.

"Nope! All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine."

"Yeah, but apart from that ... I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of," Donna said, and a ghost of a smile graced her lips.

"I couldn't save him," the Doctor said apologetically.

"He deserved it," Donna said after a moment, unfeelingly.

"Really?" Rose asked, as her eyebrows collided with her hairline. The Doctor's eyes were identical.

"No, he didn't," Donna revised, and looked towards her house. "I better get going, they'll be getting worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have," Rose chirped.

"No, no, we forgot - Donna hates Christmas," the Doctor said, teasingly.

"Oh yeah, so she does," Rose said, playing along with the Doctor's joke.

"Yes, I do," Donna said, confidently.

"Even if it snows?" the Doctor said, and reaching up he tweaking a secret button on the TARDIS; a ball of light shot up into the sky and seconds later, snow began to fall heavily.

"Oh, my God, I can't believe you just did that!" Donna said, looking up, amazed.

"Humph! He must like you a lot; he never made it snow for me," Rose said, in the huff, but the twinkle in her eyes let them both know she was joking.

"Oi! When I met you it was like, July? August? If I had made it snow, people would have been suspicious," the Doctor said, stage-whispering. Rose whacked him on the arm.

"How did you do that?" Donna asked, still amazed.

"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation," the Doctor smirked.

"Merry Christmas, Donna," Rose said.

"Merry Christmas, Rose," Donna said, smiling brilliantly. "And you too, Doctor."

"And you. So ... what will you do with yourself now?" the Doctor asked her.

"Not getting married for starters. And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno ... travel ... see a bit more of planet Earth ... walk in the dust. Just ... go out there and do something."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Rose said, smiling.

"Well, you could always ... " the Doctor said, and looked at Rose. She nodded in agreement, her smile getting wider.

"What? Levitate? Go shoppoing at Morrisons? Write a book? What?" Donna said, arms in the air.

"Come with us," Rose said, tentatively.

"No," Donna said immediately, and Rose and the Doctor nodded.

"Okay, just thought you might like the adventure," the Doctor said.

"It's a good keep-fit programme," Rose supplied, as the Doctor stuck his tongue out at her.

"No, but really ... everything we did today ... do you live your life like that?" Donna asked, overwhelmed.

"No, no ... yeah, pretty much. Apart from the odd day," the Doctor said, and Rose nodded.

"I couldn't do it," Donna said.

"But it really is beautitful out there," Rose said, tempting Donna.

"And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you both were stood there like ... I don't know ... strangers. And then you made it snow -- I mean, you scare me to death! Both of you!" Donna said, nervous laughter breaking through, as the Doctor and Rose joined in with her.

"Well, then ... " the Doctor said, looking at Rose.

"Oh, I'll tell you what I do, though," Donna said, surprising them both, "Christmas dinner. Come on."

"I don't do that sort of thing," the Doctor said immediately, before Rose could even open her mouth to accept.

"You did it last year, you said so. And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty," Donna said, and Rose smirked.

"Come on, Doctor," she said, and used the 'puppy-dog' eyes on him that always, always worked, the look that made him take her home to see her mother or take her to Far Off Lands, which he would do anyway.

"Oh, all right then," he said, and Rose smirked broadly, "But you go first, better warn them. And ... don't say I'm a Martian, please," the Doctor said, as they laughed. He indicated to the TARDIS, and said, "I just have to park her properly, she might drift off to the Middle Ages. I'll see you in a minute," he said, as he and Rose stepped inside the TARDIS, closing the doors. The dematerialisation sequence had already begun when Donna called out again.

"Doctor, Doctor!" she hollered, and the TARDIS reappeared again, and the Doctor poked his head out, Rose's head coming soon after.

"Blimey, you can shout louder than Rose's mother," the Doctor said, smiling, as Rose elbowed him sharply.

"Am I ever gonna see you two again?" Donna said, biting the bullet.

"If we're lucky," the Doctor said, and glanced at Rose, who was smiling and looking at him.

"Okay," Donna said. "You have my number, Rose."

Rose waved her mobile around as a confirmation.

"Thanks then, Donna - good luck - and just ... be magnificent," the Doctor said, beaming from ear-to-ear.

"Really magnificent," Rose emphasised, and they waved again, shutting the TARDIS door.

"Doctor!" Donna called, and the Doctor huffed in mock exasperation and heaved open the door again.

"What is it now?" he said, but his exasperated tone was overshadowed by his smile.

"You guys better call me next time you're in Chiswick," Donna said, pointing her finger, and the Doctor smiled, whilst Rose laughed.

"I don't think we would have the guts not to," Rose said, and ran out the TARDIS to hug Donna, and then ran back to the TARDIS again, one arm encircling the Doctor's skinny waist.

Donna waved as the two closed the door, for the final time, and instead of dematerialising the TARDIS shot like a bullet into the night sky, and Donna turned towards her house and set of to see her parents, making a vow that she would never forget the mysterious couple.


	19. Tesco: The Place For Cravendale

**Tesco: The Place For Cravendale**

**indeed, c'est moi! back! sorry i've taken so long with this, i've had exams on,**

**and so this has been my pet project during the 'breaks'. This might be the last**

**chapter I manage to get up until June, so again i apologise. slight filler between Runaway/**

**Smith and Jones, so it isn't as long as they usually are. hope you enjoy this, i've had fun with it!**

* * *

"I'm really gonna miss Donna," Rose remarked, closing the door behind her as the Doctor threw his trenchcoat over a support strut lazily.

"Yeah, me too, actually," the Doctor agreed, scratching behind his ear absent-mindedly. "She was certainly ... different, to the usual, wasn't she?"

"A character and a half," Rose said, nodding. She walked up to the central column slowly as the TARDIS, instead of its usual dematerialisation sequence, was shooting up into the sky like a bullet, leaving Donna Noble down on Earth in the snow, waving like a lunatic on helium.

"Oh, I'm beat," the Doctor said, collapsing on the Captain's Chair, his eyes closed, a finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose.

Rose frowned, concern flooding her features. "Are you okay?" she said, sitting down beside him. Removing his hand from his nose, she raised a hand and pressed it to his forehead. "You're toasty, but that's nothing new," she said - his skin was always a few degrees hotter than hers.

He stuck out her tongue at her, his eyes crossed. "I'm fine. Just need a sleep, that's all. It's been a while. When was it ... oh, at your mother's?" he said, and Rose could see him getting sleepy. He wasn't as good as hiding it as she was, considering he didn't experience tiredness as often as herself. It wouldn't be another twenty-four hours before he slept, though, so they had some time to kill - or run screaming from aliens covered in goop.

"Okay," she said, convinced. She laughed as her stomach rumbled; she hadn't managed to eat any of Donna's delicious-looking wedding cake. The Doctor had managed to swipe some ball-bearings off the cake, and had flicked some at Rose's nose (he was aiming for her mouth, in his defence) before robot Santas had invaded.

The Doctor smiled. "Right. Kitchen. I could murder a cup of tea and some peanut butter and toast," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her upwards. She had no time to argue, but she wasn't planning on anyway. Tea and peanut butter toast sounded just what she needed.

They walked to the kitchen slowly, hand-in-hand, talking about Donna and Sylvia and how alike Sylvia and Jackie were. They were quite alike, and Rose hadn't noticed until the Doctor pointed it out. They got to the kitchen and started their well practised routine; the Doctor took four pieces of toast and placed them in the toaster, while Rose put water in the kettle and pressed it to boil. She rummaged around in a cupboard for a moment, taking out four chicken cup-a-soups (why were they even there? Neither of them liked chicken soup) and a tin of baked beans before managing to find the jar of peanut butter. It was the Doctor's latest obsession, much like marmalade. If he wasn't in the control room, the library, the sitting room or his bedroom, he'd be in the kitchen, one finger in the peanut butter jar. It was a good thing Rose didn't have allergies.

The toast popped and then two seconds later the water came to the boil; Rose made the tea while the Doctor made the toast. It was done and on the table in a matter of seconds. Rose eagerly reached for a slice, her stomach protesting at waiting. She took a big bite and chewed noisily, swallowing the thing after a few seconds. "I like peanut butter toast," she said, and the Doctor laughed; she raised the slice again to take another bite, but instead turned positively green and bolted for the door. The Doctor went straight after her.

"Rose? Rose, are you okay? Rose?" He said, concerned, knocking gently on the door. She'd locked it again. He really had to stop her doing that, what if she passed out whilst the door was locked? No saviour for Rose, because the doors were solid oak and a killer to knock down. Ask Jack.

The retching stopped, and the Doctor heard her brushing her teeth before the bolt slid back and Rose reappeared, a thin sheen of sweat on her face. She looked better, though. "Peanut butter toast does not like me," she said, and the Doctor drew her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, even though I can't do anything," he said, and Rose laughed, though it was slightly muffled by his shirt. The suit jacket still hung over the back of the chair in the kitchen.

"Don't be, you only got me like this," Rose joked. "I should make a list of everything the baby does not like. Then I can avoid rushing to the bathroom every two minutes."

"Good idea," he said, stroking her hair lightly. "Feeling better?"

"Much," Rose said, smiling. "But I still want my cup of tea," she said, and the Doctor laughed, leading her by the hand back to the kitchen ... and back to their cold tea.

The Doctor, unaware of this, brought the mug to his lips, taking a deep gulp. His face screwed up at the atrocious taste. He rushed over to the sink, sitting it out, while Rose laughed behind him. She was glad he'd taken the first sip rather than herself.

"Bleugh!" the Doctor said, coming up from the sink, pouring his tea out. "Apart from your mother's chicken-that's-actually-beef water-like soup, that's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted in this regeneration. Not in my life. Once ate a kangaroo's testicle for a laugh, although I was sick afterwards. It was nasty. You see these 'celebrities' on _I'm A Celeb_ ... have no idea what they're in for, no idea. I lived in a jungle once. Well, for two days. Rained the whole entire time, I think I got pneumonia. Oh, Rose, you would have loved the koalas. We've run out of milk."

"Hmm?" Rose said, munching on a Wagon Wheel, having tuned out at when he started yattering about eating kangaroo's testicles. They are some things people should keep to themselves.

"We've run out of milk, weren't you listening?" he said, waving the empty bottle of semi-skimmed in front of her face.

"I _was_ listening, but you started waffling about jungles and kangaroos," she said, looking at the bottle. "Ahh. Tesco's, then? I'll go. We don't want a repeat of last time," she said, referring to when he decided that juggling cans of Diet Coke would be a good idea. The attendants who had to clean up the fizzy soda were not, and neither was a red-faced and embarrassed Rose, who thought she'd at least have three years before she'd be doing this, i.e. being embarrassed by accidents in Tesco. Although she thought the person she'd been dragging away would be three, not nine hundred and three.

"Tesco, hmm ... 2009, then. Best go early - by late 2009 swine flu has gripped the world," he said, in a doomsday voice.

"Really ... what about Mum? Is she safe?" Rose asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah! You know your lot, you hear the words 'pandemic' and panic. Nothing more than a mild flu," he said, pulling buttons and pressing levers. Or was it the other way around? His hands, like usual, were flying around as were his words as he barked various instructions at Rose, who did her dueful duty and carried them out.

* * *

"London, Earth ... 22nd May 2009! A Tuesday! I love Tuesdays. Or I did, before _Eastenders_ was introduced," the Doctor proclaimed loudly as he exited the TARDIS, attracting a few stares from some people in the busy end of Muswell Hill.

"Shut up, people are lookin'," Rose said, and the Doctor nodded.

"I know - probably wondering what the hell we're getting up to inside a small, wooden box," he said, nudging her elbow with his own, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Rose rolled her eyes, taking his hand in her own and pulled him in the direction of the nearest Tesco's.

"Geez, it's only round the corner!" the Doctor said, before pointing in the other direction to where Rose was walking. "You're going to wrong way. It's this way."

"I've been here before, and I'm pretty sure the Tesco is beside Boots, on the High Street, down there," she said, pointing, "And then to your right."

"No, it's here, beside Alexandra Palace. I remember because when I was chasing after Magpie and the Wire, I passed it to go to Alexandra Palace," the Doctor said, firm in his decision.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. When have I ever been wrong before?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Rose asked, one eyebrow at her hairline.

"No, of course not. It was a rhetorical question," the Doctor said, but nevertheless steered her in his direction. "It's only two minutes down the road."

They passed many shops on their jaunt - a Superdrug, Greggs, Victoria Wine - but they walked for about fifteen minutes and had passed Alexandra Palace on two of her four sides, and still no Tesco.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Rose asked skeptically, utterly convinced that the Doctor had no flippin' clue where he was going.

"Yep ..." he said, before catching Rose's disbelieving look. "No. I am afraid to admit this as a Time Lord, but I am lost. I ain't a Street Lord."

"Lord of the A-Z?" Rose joked, before pulling him back. "And that was a crap joke, by the way. And

I said it was on the High Street. Honestly, listen to me, the Half-and-Half!" she said, as they made their way back to the place they had started from. He was getting off for it just now, but no doubt Rose would think up of something creative to pay him back for it later. Since she'd fallen pregnant, she'd had a thing where she held grudges for an incredibly long time, something that wasn't really Rose. She'd hold them for a while, but for the majority she'd just let it go ... now, he'd have to expect an inventive way of revenge in about three weeks time.

"Right, come on then. High street," the Doctor said, pointedly ignoring the jibe about his joke. Rose took his hand, leading the way, shooting him a side glance and seeing him looking at everything, taking in everything around him. It always amazed her that no matter how many spectacular, out-of-this-world planets he took her to, he always thought Earth was the most breathtaking. He always looked at everything as though it was some sort of miracle that it was there.

They reached Tesco's without any more hilarity. Rose smiled as the Doctor bounded over to the trolleys like a hyperactive five-year-old, grabbing one and pushing it towards Rose.

"We don't need a trolley, so you can put that back," she said, pointing. "We're only in for milk."

"But Rose!" he whined. "I love the trolleys. They're fun."

"And embarrassing. Remember the incident?" she said, and the Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, but I apologised for that."

"But it was also embarrassing. We have to act responsible; we're going to be parents," Rose said, trying to use an authoritative voice that wasn't working, as she'd just spotted jam doughnuts on sale for 50p and the baby was literally begging for them.

This hadn't escaped the Doctor's notice. "Oh, look at that. Jam doughnuts. 50p, what a bargain. Pity there's only one packet left and that lady seems to be eyeing them up …"

Rose literally squealed, running head first into the shop and nearly pushing the lady out the way to get the doughnuts. "I'm so sorry," she said, acting as if it was an accident, and the lady replied it was nothing to worry about; the doughnuts were in Rose's hands as she made her way back to a laughing Doctor, who was almost bent double over the trolley.

"Rose, we have to be responsible. We're going to be parents," he said once he'd recovered, mimicking her earlier comment.

"Oh, shut up," she said, grabbing hold of the trolley and pushing it. The Doctor laughed behind her, stuffing his hands in his pockets and followed her, Rose directing the Doctor to what they needed to buy.

"We should just get it all, while we're here," the Doctor said, looking at some peanut butter, before remembering Rose's newly-acquired aversion to the spread, instead holding up marmalade. "You aren't going to be sick if you eat this, are you?" he asked, just in case.

"No, so far I'm okay with the marmalade," she replied, too involved in reading the back of a packet of jam-filled cupcakes to notice the Doctor sneaking five jars of marmalade into the trolley.

Rose placed two packets of 16 jam-filled cupcakes in the trolley, noticing the jars. "Oi! What's with all the marmalade?"

"What's with all the jam?" the Doctor shot back, looking at the jam-filled cupcakes. There were a lot of them.

"I have cravings for jam," Rose said, rubbing her stomach.

"I have cravings too, y'know," the Doctor said, gesturing to the marmalade.

"Oh, can male Time Lords have babies too?" Rose said, smirking.

The Doctor glared. "You know what I mean," he said, walking away, his trench coat fanning out behind him like a cloak.

"Oi, Snape, come back, I need help with the trolley!" Rose said, and the Doctor swivelled back at once, mouth agape, walking back to her.

"Snape? You're saying I look like Severus Snape? SNAPE? I mean, Lupin, maybe, I've always fancied myself as a bit of an animal," - Rose snorted - "And I could get it if you called me Sirius Black, but Snape? Rose Tyler, I am aghast!"

"You don't look like him. I mean, if you looked like him, then I think I wouldn't be in the bread aisle, more like the shampoo aisle," Rose said, smirking. "I knew it would get your attention. And your coat was like out flying behind you, like his."

"Really? I must invest in a Lupin-style coat," he said, looking at the coat. "But I love this coat. Janis – "

"Yes, we know, Janis Joplin gave you that coat," she said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, now, let's get serious. Wholegrain or white?"

"We don't die, Rose. Get white bread," he said, picking up three packets of _Hovis Thick White _and placing them in the trolley alongside the five jars of marmalade and 32 jam-filled cupcakes.

"Right-o. To the milk!" the Doctor said, taking hold of the trolley, and gripping the handlebars, ran with it and picked his legs up so he was flying down the aisle. Rose shook her head; no matter how many times she told him, he wouldn't stop. She made a mental note never to let Jackie come shopping with them; she'd have a heart attack in the middle of Lidl if she did.

They arrived at the milk all in one piece (as was the shop, thankfully) but the Doctor, once again, was moaning about something.

"What is it now?" Rose asked, picking up some Tesco-own milk.

"There is a world disaster happening, Rose. Something of epic proportions." His voice was grave.

"Oh, my God, what's happening?" Rose said, putting down the milk and looking around. Surely they were safe in Tesco's. Why would aliens want to invade Tesco?

"Tesco, Muswell Hill, has ran out of Cravendale milk," the Doctor said, and Rose looked slightly amused, slightly furious.

"Honestly!" she said, hitting him upside the head with a copy of _Heat_ she was buying. "You made me think that aliens had invaded."

"Why on Earth would aliens want to invade Muswell Hill's Tesco?" the Doctor said, confused. "And anyway, bigger fish to fry than aliens; there is no Cravendale milk!"

"You don't have to get the milk because of the advert, you know," Rose said, amused. He really did love that advert, going around the TARDIS saying 'milk, milk' over and over for ages afterwards. It got annoying, to be honest, to Rose tended to whack him with whatever was handy.

"But the advert is awesome!"

"Yes, but other milk tastes the same."

"No, it doesn't. Other milk doesn't come from a talking cow."

"No milk comes from a talking cow, Doctor."

"Cravendale does. Well, a metaphorical talking cow, anyway."

"C'mon. We're getting Tesco's own milk. Buy three, you never know when we'll be back."

The Doctor, still sullen from having no Cravendale, picked up the – in his opinion – inferior milk and put it in the trolley.

"Are we almost done?" he asked, after dumping a load of chocolate and fizzy juice into the trolley.

"Yeah, I think that's us. Honestly, you call yourself a Doctor, yet you put all this junk in," she said, having put her fruit in earlier. She had decided that for the baby's sake, she would try and lead as healthy a diet as possible for the nine or less months (the Doctor said that usual Gallifreyan pregnancies were only four months, and he didn't know if the baby would follow a human or Gallifreyan pregnancy) but her attempts to turn the Doctor onto healthy fruit was, for the most part, falling on deaf ears. _'Why eat healthily? We are gonna live forever, we might as well eat what we like'_ was his constant mantra.

"Well, if I'm going to live forever," the Doctor said, putting their shopping onto the conveyor belt, "I might as well do it in style, eh?" his tone was light and jokey, more for the shop assistant's benefit than for Rose's.

The very shop assistant that was eyeing up the Doctor as he spoke, not at all interested in what he was saying. She was youngish, about eighteen or nineteen, with dyed black hair that had a hint of blonde at the roots; her black nail polish was chipped off quite considerably, and you could barely see her eyes for dark eyeliner. She wasn't paying attention to scanning the items, preferring instead to just stare at the Doctor, who seemed oblivious (as always) to her gaze. However, Rose was not oblivious, not in the slightest, and was getting quite annoyed at her.

"We need to get home quickly; the baby is like, screaming for that jam," Rose said pointedly, resting a hand on her small stomach. The Doctor nodded, and started packing everything just that little bit quicker. The shop assistant had heard Rose and was now glaring at the woman.

"£42.63," she spat, nearly grabbing the money from Rose's outstretched hand. Rose looked a little taken aback, she didn't want this kind of reaction.

"Thanks," Rose said poiltely, when the shop assistant dumped the change back in Rose's hand. Rose smiled.

"Have a nice day," the shop assistant said, acid dripped in her voice. Rose smiled again, picked up some bags, before the Doctor handed her some of the less heavy bags. She rolled her eyes and walked away, the assistant still glaring daggers in her back.

It wasn't until they got out of Tesco that the Doctor asked her. "What was up with her?" he said, eyebrows raised. "Honestly, kids these days. Rude as anything."

"She wasn't being rude to you," Rose replied, and the Doctor glanced at her, "She was being rude to me."

"Why?" the Doctor hadn't cottoned on.

"You," she said, and the Doctor ahhed, realising at once.

"Really?" he said, and Rose laughed, rolling her eyes. They walked back to the TARDIS, talking about trivial things such as chameleon circuits when the Doctor suddenly stopped dead.

"Doctor? What is it?" Rose said, as the Doctor knelt down beside something, nestled in the shadows against the corner of a building.

"Rose, give me your opinion: is that a plasma coil?" he said, pointing to something that looked like a tightly-wound spring.

"I'd answer better if I knew what a plasma coil is, but it is certainly coiled," Rose said, and her eye caught something. "There's one over here, too!" she said, pointing to the other corner of the building.

"Hmm … these are definitely, without a doubt, plasma coils," the Doctor said, looked at them, whipping out his glasses. Rose wondered what the shop assistant's reaction would have been to him wearing his glasses. Like every other girl (and the odd guy) she would have probably melted.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Rose asked him, still unsure as to what plasma coils actually were.

"Bad. Alien way of transportation, or at least it aids mass transportation. What is this place?" the Doctor asked Rose, still inspecting this suspected plasma coil.

"This is … it doesn't say … wait, here's a sign … Royal Hope Hospital," she yelled back, and the Doctor poked his head out from around the corner.

"Fancy doing a little undercover work, Lewis?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Always!" Rose replied, and picking up their shopping, they made their way back to the TARDIS; they had an undercover plan to organise.

* * *


	20. Have You Met Miss Jones?

**Have You Met Miss Jones?**

**i know i said i wouldn't update again until June ... but you're really very lucky.**

**the start of Smith and Jones. I'm still getting used to writing Martha, so please**

**excuse me if she's a little out of character at points. enjoy!**

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* * *

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"Right, so, basically, I'm going in for a scan, then?" Rose said, having spent the last fifteen minutes trying to understand what the Doctor's plan was, and only resulting in a headache. She thought she'd caught the general gist of it.

"Yeah, basically," the Doctor said from his perch beside her, idly fiddling with a strand on blonde hair.

"Won't the baby have two hearts? Surely they'll notice something's wrong."

"The baby will have one heart," the Doctor explained, "We don't get our second heart until we regenerate."

"Oh. Oh, okay," Rose said, resting a hand on her now slightly swollen stomach. It had taken them a good week and a bit to sort out a plan, and the Doctor had been assessing the hospital in that week to see what was happening. He'd come to the conclusion that he'd have to go inside to see exactly what was happening. One thing he was sure about, however, was that it was alien. Always reassuring to know.

They had decided that Rose going undercover as a patient would be the best option. Not only was she pregnant, but because she was pregnant they would most likely keep her in for a couple of days, which was perfect time for the Doctor to snoop around the hospital virtually undetected.

"Right, are you ready?" the Doctor said, parking the TARDIS opposite the hospital. They had packed a bag with clothes and toiletries for their stay, all in a compact handbag that was Rose's. Being bigger on the inside certainly had it's advantages.

"As I'll ever be," was Rose's reply, as she handed the handbag she'd just doubled checked into the Doctor's hand. She was a good actress, but she'd have to pretend she was having some serious stomach pains, much like contractions. Would help if she knew what they felt like, but beggars can't be choosers.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after some (in the Doctor's opinion) superb acting from Rose, they had been escorted into a semi-private ward. Rose was changed and lying on top of the bed, ready to be taken for tests. While she was getting these tests taken, the Doctor was going to 'get a cup of coffee' – i.e. have a wander around to get his bearings.

"Miss Tyler?" a doctor came through with a clipboard, reading her name off it. "Doctor Tennant is ready for you now."

"Ready?" the Doctor asked Rose, helping her off the bed.

"Yeah, I guess so. I wonder what tests they'll do."

"They'll probably just ultrasound you," the Doctor said, taking her by the hand and squeezing it in reassurance as the trainee doctor led them down the halls of Royal Hope.

"Oh … okay," Rose said, but the Doctor could tell she was worried; she was chewing on her lip incessantly, the her hand was clammy.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked her gently. He was rather hoping she'd say yes; he wanted to stay with her, to make sure she was okay, and to see their baby on the ultrasound.

"No, no, it's fine, honestly … go and have a look around," Rose said, looking at him, her eyes telling him that she wanted nothing more than for him to stay with her.

"I'm staying. I'll go have a look around tonight, okay?" he said, his thumb stroking the back of her knuckles reassuringly.

"If you're absolutely sure," Rose said. She looked slightly better at the turn of events.

"Positively absolutely," the Doctor nodded, and the young doctor pointed out some hard, plastic green chairs outside an office that had 'Dr. Daniel Tennant PhD' written on the sign.

"Thanks," Rose said to the doctor, who nodded and scuttled away.

"I can't do this all on my own, no, I know, I'm no superman … I'm no superman," the Doctor sang quietly, his right leg over his left knee, his right hand in Rose's, his foot jiggling in time with his singing.

"What on Earth are you singing?" Rose asked incredulously.

"I'm No Superman."

"... That doesn't help, Doctor."

"The theme tune from _Scrubs,_" he explained. "I thought it was fitting, seeing as we're in a hospital."

"And I'm also supposed to be experiencing labour pains at four months along, or however many months I'm supposed to be," Rose said, ever the voice of reason, "So maybe singing isn't the best way to pass the time."

"Says the woman who pushed an old lady out the way to get the last packet of jam doughnuts."

"She wasn't old, she was in her fifties," Rose retaliated, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You call your mother old, and she's approximately forty."

"Approximately?"

"Well, in that parallel Earth, she lied about her age. I wouldn't put it past this Earth's Jackie to lie about her age as well."

"She's forty-one. February 1st, 1967."

"Well, that's beside the point. You call your mother old, and she's eight years younger than the woman you pushed out the way."

"Well, let's just face facts, shall we; she didn't exactly need those jam doughnuts," Rose said. "If the TARDIS wasn't bigger on the inside, she wouldn't be able to fit inside it."

"Now now, Rose, that's not nice. Although, she was rather large. And not that I'm turning into Gok Wan or anything, I just don't think that short a leather skirt was an entirely good fashion choice," the Doctor agreed, to Rose's laughter.

At that moment, the Doctor opened the door. He was youngish, about the same age as the Doctor looked, with sandy hair and blue eyes. If the most gorgeous being in the world wasn't sitting right next to her, she would have been in there like a shot. But, compared to her Doctor, he just looked nice. You couldn't deny, however, that he was good-looking.

"Miss Tyler?" he asked, a smooth, North London accent emitted from his mouth. Rose nodded, and stood up, with the Doctor's help.

"Just through here, please," he said, and led them in the office; it was a medium-sized room, with a large monitoring screen and a bed on one side, and a computer and three chairs grouped around a desk on the other side.

Rose and the Doctor took two of the three chairs as instructed, with the other doctor sitting in the high-backed chair around the other side of the desk.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Tennant," he said, holding out his hand for both of them to shake.

"I'm John, and this is Rose," the Doctor said, thinking it was probably better to use 'John' than the Doctor, as people might actually think he was a member of staff.

"Nice to meet you both," Dr. Tennant said, sitting down with a small, neat folder of paperwork in front of him. "I've got your admittance paperwork here, Miss Tyler. Your regular hospital is Lewisham Hospital, is that correct?"

"Yes," Rose said – it was the nearest hospital to the Powell Estate. "We were visting friends here and when it happened, we thought it was best to come to the nearest hospital rather than try and drive back to South London in midday traffic," Rose explained, having gone over every single iota of their plan with the Doctor beforehand.

"It was the sensible thing to do, especially as we don't know what it is that's causing you pain yet. Is this your first pregnancy?"

Rose nodded.

"It can be frightening, not knowing what to expect," Dr. Tennant said in a soothing voice. "Are you experiencing any pain at the moment?"

"No," Rose shook her head. "They gave me painkillers to numb the pain so I could walk," she lied. They hadn't given her anything, but it was probably the best thing to do because she couldn't have been admitted with several pains then be walking around an hour later. Of course, she couldn't really take painkillers, as the chances were the baby would be anaphylatic to them as his or her father was.

"Okay. I'll do a quick ultrasound for you, then I'll do some analysis of it, to see if there is anything there. If you experience any more pain, then the nurses will give you a painkiller top-up."

Rose nodded, and within moments the baby was up on the screen.

"Right, okay, since it's your first pregnancy I'll go through everything with you both," Dr. Tennant said, and Rose could practically feel the Doctor rolling his eyes. Rose looked at him and he was rolling his eyes. She squeezed his hand to make him look at least a little awake, and he smiled at her, forcing himself to tune into whatever Dr. Tennant was saying.

"... And this, right here, is your baby," he said, pointing to a small shape the size of Rose's fist, slightly to the right of the screen. She felt the Doctor squeeze her head tightly, and she looked round; a large beam was on his face, his ecstasy showing through every pore. It seemed really, really real now, that small, tiny – if she was being honest – blob, was going to be a real person. Tears pricked at the corners of Rose's eyes. For the first time, she felt like a mother.

* * *

They were walking back along to the ward when they heard it. The one sound that seems to hurt your head, make your heart thud faster (not in a good way) and make your balls jump back up inside your body. If you were a man, that is. The voice of doom, the voice of the devil – the voice of everything bad.

"Rose! My baby! What are you doing here?"

The voice of Jackie Tyler. Not just Jackie Tyler, but a worried Jackie Tyler.

_Someone_, the Doctor begged, just refraining from getting down and praying on his knees in the middle of the hospital. _kill me now. _What was she even doing here, anyway?

"Nothing, Mum ..." Rose said, looking to the Doctor for an explanation. They couldn't actually tell her, could they, with other patients and doctors and nurses running around, ears open.

He just shrugged his shoulders, and Jackie turned on him.

"What the 'ell 'ave ya done now, ya great waste o' space!" Jackie said, socking him on the arm. It was painful, and the Doctor rubbed it, but didn't say anything, seeing Jackie's had posied and ready to slap.

"We'll tell you in a minute, Jackie," he said, through gritted teeth, and luckily Jackie got the message. She pulled the both of them – well, she guided Rose, and practically wrenched the Doctor's arm out of his socket – into a secluded corner, out of sight of nosy nurses and the like.

"Right. Tell me now, why are you two here? Is there something wrong with Rose? Something wrong with the baby?" Jackie said, a deep worry line appearing between her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong, Mum," Rose said truthfully, thankful to be telling the truth after a morning of (necessary) lying. "It's just that the Doctor found something dodgy going on in the hospital, so we've come undercover to see what it is. Me being pregnant is a good cover story to get us in to the hospital so the Doctor can see what's happening," Rose explained in a soothing voice, rubbing Jackie's hand, which was encased in her own.

"So … there's nothing wrong with you or the baby?" Jackie said, the worry line disappearing and a look of shock appearing instead. "So you're abusin' the NHS! Honestly, there's enough overcrowdin' as it is, without this 'appin'."

"They won't mind us being here for a few days, will they, if it saves the world?" the Doctor said, smiling as a nurse passed them, eyeing them suspiciously. "And that doesn't explain what you're doing here." Jackie rolled her eyes.

"It's Sandra, ya know Sandra, don't ya Rose, used to get ya Rose's for y'ur birthday, every year," Jackie said, as Rose nodded. "Well she was in car accident. Don't worry, nothin' major, just some cuts an' bruises. But I thought I should pop in an' see her, and then I see ya!" Jackie said, holding her hands up in the air as she'd just announced she'd just climbed Mount Everest.

"As long as Sandra's okay," Rose said, looking genuinely concerned.

"Yea', she's fine. Like I said, just some cuts an' bruises. I'mma get goin', is that alright, I've gotta client at six," Jackie said, looking Rose straight in the eye. "I'd love to stay an' chat, but I've cancelled on her twice this week already, so I can't cancel again."

"It's okay, Mum," Rose said, allowing herself to be squeezed to near death by her mother.

"Ohh, I better watch, you're gettin' a bit of a bump there Rose!" Jackie said, giving her daughter another hug before kissing her on the cheek motherly. "An' don't think I'm missin' ya out, ya big waste of space!" she said, enveloping the Doctor in a hug as well, who didn't take kindly to being called a waste of space, however affectionately.

"Really, Jackie? In public?" he said as Jackie released her hold on him.

"Honestly, why do ya put with 'im, darlin'?" she said, and Rose just laughed along. Jackie looked at her watch and frowned, before giving Rose yet another hug.

"Bye, love. Stay safe – the both of yous," she said, squeezing Rose's hand, before setting off down a corridor labelled 'exit', occasionally turning around and smiling and waving at the couple as they made their way back to the ward.

"Honestly, your mother," the Doctor said as soon as Jackie was out of earshot, shaking his head. "She seems to pop up out of the blue everywhere."

"Yep," Rose said, nodding. They walked along back to the ward, muttering to each other about things the plasma coils could be hiding.

* * *

They were back in the ward when the whole building suddenly started to shake; everything seemed to rattle, and people were going flying. "Get down on the floor!" the Doctor yelled to other people in the ward, as he pushed Rose down on the floor and lay over her, as there was several breakages occurring. A large, heavy glass jug of water fell off the bedside table and smashed, sending tiny shards of glass everywhere; it would have landed right on Rose if she hadn't moved.

Eventually everything calmed, and the Doctor pushed up on his hands, examining Rose. "I'm fine," she said, as he stood up, helping her up. He looked around, seeing if there was anything different.

"That felt like transportation to me," he said, suspiciously.

"Might just be a little thing," Rose said, holding her finger and thumb so they were a centimetre apart, "But it was lunchtime when we left. Now, it's night."

"What?" he said, and after checking, he found she was right. "Get dressed," he said, handing her the handbag and drawing the curtain around them, "I think we need to sort this out quicker than we anticipated."

Rose nodded. The Doctor stayed where he was. "Either get out, close your eyes, or turn around," Rose said, counting them on her fingers. He closed his eyes and turned around.

Rose got dressed quicker than she ever imagined was possible; soon she was standing in a pair of jeans, a pink t-shirt and a blue hooded sweatshirt.

"Right, you can turn around now," Rose said, slipping the hospital-issue pjyamas on the bed. "Can we go and see now?" she sounded like an impatient child.

"Wait – who's that talking?" the Doctor said, as an authoritative voice rang out.

"All right, everyone back to bed, this is an emergency but we'll sort it out," a woman's voice said. The Doctor, still behind the curtain, raised his eyebrows at Rose. He peeked out behind the curtain, unseen to everyone.

"Transportation is right. We're on the moon," he said, and Rose gasped.

"Really?" Rose said, looking genuinely excited. The Doctor nodded, and Rose looked gleeful. Out of all the places she'd visited, the moon was one she wanted to go to – to see if the moon landing was fake or not. Her mother was adamant is wasn't, but she still wasn't convinced.

About thirty seconds later, the same voice sounded again. "It's real, it's really real! Hold on."

"Don't!" another woman's voice, only this one was sobbing, whereas the first was calm and amazed. "We'll lose all the air!"

There was silence for a moment. "But they're not exactly air-tight," the first voice said, contemplatively. "If the air was going to get sucked out, then it would have happened straight away – but it didn't. How come?"

The Doctor felt there had been enough time hiding. He pulled back the curtain with a flourish, revealing himself and Rose to two startled doctors. "Very good point! Excellent, in fact, don't you agree?" He was talking to Rose, who nodded. "What was your name?"

"Jones, Martha Jones," the first voice replied. A face to a name. She was tall, about a couple of inches off the Doctor's 6"1 height. Nothing like Rose's small stature. She had a pretty face, and didn't look like a doctor, but was dressed in doctor-like (proper doctor-like, not converse) clothes. She looked too young to be a doctor, in Rose's opinion. She looked only a few years older than Rose herself.

"Well, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?"

"We can't be!" the owner of the second voice made itself heard. A sobbing woman on the floor, curled up into a ball. Rose ran over and put her arm around the woman, comforting her as best she could.

"Obviously, we are," the Doctor said, not unkindly. "Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda … ?" he asked, looking at the doctor.

"By the patient's lounge, yeah," Martha said, nodding.

"Fancy coming out?" The Doctor asked Martha. He didn't ask Rose – he knew the answer, she'd be there like a shot.

"Okay," Martha said, bravely.

"We might die."

The Doctor was clearly challenging Martha, and she responded with another challenge. "We might not."

"Good! C'mon, Rose. Not her," he said, pointing to Swales, whom Rose was comforting, "She'd hold us up."

Rose bade goodbye to Swales and followed the Doctor and Martha out the door. They got to the patient's lounge quickly with Martha's direction. The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, before grabbing a door handle each, pushed open the door, unconsciously holding their breath. They soon found there was no need, however, as there was air.

All three took a deep breath in, looking out over the moon, the Earth as visible as the moon is from Earth. It felt weird, seeing it the other way around, even though Rose had seen many planets; she just hadn't seen her own. Not since Platform One, anyway, and that was nearly three years ago. Was it really that long? Rose suddenly felt old, she'd grown up so much in those three years. Three years ago, she was stuck in a dead-end job with a boyfriend who was more like a brother, eating beans on toast every night; now, she was an intergalactic hero, with a boyfriend who was an alien (and the love of her life) and was saving the world every night. And was about to become a mum. Those three years had just gone rushing by like the wind, and only the sight of Earth brought those three years back to Rose.

"We've got air!" Martha exclaimed, looking joyous. "How does that work, then?"

"No idea," the Doctor said, looking at Rose. "Just be thankful it does."

Martha's face suddenly fell. "I've got a party tonight," she said, biting her lip. "It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's going to be really … really …" she couldn't seem to get the words out. Rose immediately sympathised with her, and rushed over to her, giving her a hug. Martha seemed to appreciate the comfort.

"You okay?" Rose said, after a few moments.

"Yeah," was Martha's simple, and still slightly awed reply.

"Sure?" It was the Doctor that asked this time.

"Yeah," Martha repeated.

"Want to go back in?" the Doctor asked her.

"No way. I mean, we could die any minute," Martha said, sensibly, "But all the same, it's beautiful."

"Isn't it, though?" Rose said, looking the same as Martha; awed and amazed.

"Wait a minute," Martha said, pointing a finger at the Doctor, "You came up to me on Chancery Street this morning! Took your tie off, and said something … 'like so!' or something like that!"

"It wasn't him," Rose said, throwing her thumb over her shoulder to indicate to 'him'. "We were in waiting rooms all bloody morning."

"Well, he looked and dressed like you. Sure you don't have a fan club?" Martha asked.

"Probably," the Doctor sniffed, and Rose elbowed him sharply.

"How many people have wanted to go to the moon?" Rose asked, changing the subject, "And here were are!"

"Standing in the Earthlight," the Doctor finished, taking Rose's hand and giving it a small squeeze. Rose's return squeeze was so full of joy and excitement it nearly cut off all the circulation in his hand.

"Oi!" he exclaimed, "Mind and no do that so hard? That's my fightin' hand, I never know when I'm going to need all the circulation in it."

"Well, you were the one who got it cut off," Rose said in retaliation. Martha was looking at them as if they'd just asked if the patients and staff in the hospital wanted to start a giant conga.

"Anyway," Martha said, turning back to the Moon landscape before them, "What do you think happened?"

"What do you think?" The Doctor shot back at her.

"Extraterrestrial. It's got to be. I mean, a couple of years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben," Martha said, as Rose silently counted the ones they'd been to on her fingers. "Christmas. Those Cybermen things."

Martha had went silent. "Are you okay?" Rose asked, kindly, letting go of the Doctor's hand and rushing over to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

Martha nodded before continuing. "I had a cousin, Adeola. Addy. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home that day."

"Adeola?" Rose repeated, and Martha nodded. Rose clicked her fingers. "We knew her. It was her and that other guy … they started the ghost shifts with their earpieces, remember?" She was talking to the Doctor, who nodded. "I'm sorry, she died. We were there, in the battle," Rose said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"You look alike," the Doctor said, looking at Martha.

"Everyone told us that," Martha said. "We're only a few months apart, so when we were younger we used to pretend to be twins." Rose giggled, but it only lasted a few moments until silence dispelled on the group again.

"I promise you, Mr whatever-your-name-is, we _will_ find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way."

"The name's the Doctor. And this is Rose," the Doctor said, pointing to himself and then to Rose.

"Me too, if I could pass my exams. What is it then, Doctor … Smith? Evans?"

"Just 'the Doctor'." he replied.

"How do you mean, just 'the Doctor'?" Martha seemed confused.

"Just … 'The Doctor'," Rose said. She hadn't really questioned his name when they'd met, she'd just grabbed onto his hand for dear life and hadn't let go since.

"What, people call you 'The Doctor'. Like, '_hey, the Doctor, can you pass the salt_'?"

"Not like that. Just Doctor, in that case," he said, arms crossed over his chest. Rose looked amused by the situation.

"Well, I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, you've gotta earn that title," she said, her chin held up defiantly. Rose raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, who repeated the action back.

"Well, I better make a start, then, eh?" he said, turning back to the moon landscape and the Earth in the far distance. "Let's have a look. Rose?" he asked, and the blonde's eyes shifted for the Earth to him.

"Doctor?" she asked back, and the Doctor picked up a pebble. "Right," she said, and picked up her own pebble, and threw it; it hit some kind of barrier and bounced off it, the barrier itself glowing purple.

"There must be some kind of … force field, keeping the air in," Rose said, looking to the Doctor with a worried expression.

"If that's a bubble keeping the air in ..." Martha said, cottoning on to what the other two were thinking. "Then this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?" She asked the Doctor, who just looked at her.

"How many people in this hospital?" he asked, looking between Martha and the invisible force field.

"I dunno … a thousand?" Martha said, and Rose internally groaned. This wasn't a good.

"A thousand people. Suffocating," the Doctor said, his voice dark, reminding Rose of his previous body. She elbowed him again, and he seemed to snap out of it, smiling at her warmly.

"Why would anyone want to do that?" Martha asked, perplexed by this question.

"Heads up!" Rose said, pointing to the sky, where massive ships were landing not to far away from the hospital.

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" the Doctor said, as the aliens started coming out of spaceship. They had big, bulky helmets on, and were dressed in something akin to leather jackets and skirts.

"That's aliens!" Martha exclaimed, pointing. "Real proper aliens!"

The Doctor's voice was deadpan when he spoke, holding onto Rose's hand tightly. "Judoon."

* * *

**i told you Jackie would be back to create some more trouble. :) It's not the last time she'll be popping up where she doesn't belong, either.**


	21. We Are Humans, We Come In Peace

**We Are Humans, We Come In Peace**

**I ish back, in all my mad glory :) well, here it is, **

**second part of Smith and Jones. ****Hope you enjoy it. **

* * *

"Where are they going?" Martha asked, as the Judoon made their way into the hospital, seemingly breaking through the force field Rose's pebble had been unable to get through.

"I have no idea. Let's go find out, shall we?" the Doctor said, grasping Rose's hand and going back through the ward, Martha following, giving directions.

"This way to the stairs? How many floors until the ground floor?" the Doctor asked, as Martha nodded in right direction.

"Four floors, I think," Martha said, and the three flew down the stairs, three at a time. Eventually, they got to the mezzanine floor, and the Judoon were down below, interrogating the patients and visitors.

"We have to hide," the Doctor said, looking around for a suitable hiding place from the Judoon.

"Behind the plant pots!" Rose said, and the Doctor nodded, failing to spot another hiding place, as he and Martha crouched beside Rose on the ground. "Why do we need to hide?"

"I don't know – I just know it's better if the Judoon don't see me. Or you, for that matter," he said, nodding in Rose's direction.

Martha opened her mouth to ask why, but instead, the Judoon leader took off his helmet.

"Ew! They're like giant rhinos," Martha said, making a face.

"Bo sco fo do no kro blo co sho ro!" the Judoon said, much to the screaming of the people below.

"We are citizens of Planet Earth," a young man – Rose faintly recognised him as Morganstein, one of the medical students she'd met in the hospital - dressed in a white coat similar to Martha's, spoke up. "We welcome you in peace."

"Oliver," Martha whispered, looking shocked.

"Honestly. Who first said 'we come in peace'? Because really, it's become such a cliché," the Doctor said, still peeking out behind the plant, making no move to speak up himself.

Rose voiced this thought. "If you think it's so lame, then you go down and say something, then, Timey," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm fine where I am, thanks, Tyler," he replied, before nudging her. "Listen," he said, indicating to the Judoon.

The Judoon had Morganstein up against a wall, and was shining a bright blue light in his face. "Please don't hurt me, I was just trying to help … I'm sorry, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me," he rambled, literally shaking with fear, visible from where the three were hidden.

"What are they doing?" Rose said, as the Judoon recorded his voice on handheld, red device.

"He's assimlating the language," the Doctor said, as the words Morganstein has said were played backwards. "He'll speak English now."

The Judoon seemed to plug the device into their chests. "Language assimilated. Designation Earth English. You will be catalogued," he said, marking a black cross on the back of Morganstein's hand. "Category is human. Catalogue all suspects."

And that's when the screaming started.

"Honestly, they're only making a catalogue. Like an IKEA catalogue, only with humans, and not furniture. Why do you humans always have to start screaming?" the Doctor said, more to Rose than Martha, who hadn't heard him; Rose rolled her eyes, used to him insulting species now. Although, she had to admit, he didn't insult them as much as he did in his last body.

"Oooh!" the Doctor said, snapping Rose out of her trance and causing Martha to look at them, "Look down there! You've got a little shop. I like a little shop. We should have come to the little shop earlier, Rose! I never knew they had a little shop … " he trailed off, seemingly disappointed that he didn't get to go to the shop.

Rose huffed in amusement. "If we get rid of the Judoon then we can go before we go," Rose reasoned, and the Doctor beamed; Martha had raised one eyebrow, giving him a look.

"What are you, five years old?" Martha asked sarcastically, as if now just wasn't the right time to organise a trip to the little shop.

"Give or take nine hundred," the Doctor muttered, eliciting a little giggle from Rose. Martha ignored them.

"What are the Judoon?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the rhino-like aliens.

"Galactic police. Well, they're more like police for hire. Interplanetary thugs, in my opinion," he said, his breath slowly steaming up the glass their noses were pressed against. It would have made a humourous sight if they hadn't been a) invaded by aliens that looked like they belonged in _Animal Kingdom_, and b) hidden by plant pots, so no-one could have actually seen the humourous sight.

"And they brought us to the moon?"

"Neutral territory. According to galactic law, they have no jurisdiction over the Earth, so they isolated us."

"That rain, that lightening, was that them, using the plasma coils?" Rose asked, now sitting cross-legged on the floor, her legs having gone numb with squatting for so long.

"Yes, that was them," he said, looking down at her, "Using an H20 scoop."

"What's that about 'galactic law'? Where did you get that from? And if they're police, does that mean we're under arrest?"

"For trespassing on the moon!" Rose said, and she and Martha dissolved into laugher, and even the Doctor's deep chuckle rang out for a moment.

"No, but I like that," he said, smiling, "Good thinking. No, it's more simple. They're making a catalogue, so that means they're looking for someone non-human. Which is very bad news for me … actually, bad news for us," the Doctor said, taking Rose's hand and squeezing it in reassurance.

"Why?" Martha asked, looking at the pair.

They both gave her identical looks, one eyebrow raised, which plainly said _'what do you think?'_

"Oh, you're _kidding_ me."

The Doctor just raised an eyebrow further, if that was possible. They were quickly becoming impossible to distinguish from his hairline.

"Don't be ridiculous," Martha said. Rose was biting her lip, trying not to burst out laughing, and the Doctor just maintained his gaze. "Stop looking at me like that!"

"Well, come on, then," he said, pulling Rose up from her position on the floor. "I need to find a computer, now."

* * *

"In here!" Rose said, pointing to a room with a computer; they'd been searching the hospital corridors for ten minutes trying to find one, and the Judoon were hot on their heels.

"Martha! Go and see where the Judoon have got to," the Doctor said, and Martha nodded, running in the direction they had just come; Rose went inside the room with the Doctor, holding the sonic to the computer as he typed furiously.

Martha came back no less than forty-seven seconds later. "They've reached the third floor. What's that thing?" she asked, looking curiously at the sonic.

"Sonic screwdriver," Rose supplied for the Doctor, since he seemed deep in concentration.

"Well, if you're not going to answer me properly," Martha said, looking a little put out.

"It is!" the Doctor said, as Rose waved the slim device around. "It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic."

"What else have you got then? Laser spanner?" Martha challenged.

Rose smirked. "He did have … it was nicked. Ugh, who was it again, Emily Pankhurst or Millicent Fawcett?"

"Emily Pankhurst, cheeky woman. Millicent Fawcett was the one who dragged you to that protest and you ripped your dress," the Doctor said, distracted, as Martha listened in, mouth agape.

"Ahh, so it was," Rose said. "I liked that dress, too."

The Doctor suddenly hit the computer, making Rose and Martha jump simultaneously. "Oh, this computer! The Judoon must have locked it down. Judoon platoon upon the moon," he said, as Rose giggled. He turned to Martha.

"We were just travelling past, I swear, - "

" - Yes, after getting lost around bloody Muswell Hill looking for a Tesco - "

" - _Anyway_," he said, looking at Rose, who smiled sweetly back at him, "We weren't looking for trouble. But I noticed the plasma coils, that's the lightening, those plasma coils. So, we checked in, the baby is the perfect cover to get in and see what was going on. Turns out it was the Judoon up above!"

"Baby?" Martha asked, looking around as if said baby was going to materialise out of thin air.

The Doctor gasped and turned to Rose. "I knew we'd forgotten something!"

Rose just laughed, and Martha was still looking at them as if waiting for a serious response. Rose pointed to her stomach. Martha nodded in understanding.

"So, what are they looking for?" Martha asked the Doctor, 'they' clearly being the Judoon.

"Something that looks human, but isn't," he said, his hair now looking like he'd stuck his finger in a plug; actually, it was almost identical to the time Rose had caught him sticking his finger in some sort of electrical device.

"Like you. Apparently," Martha replied, clearly not believing him.

"Like us. But not us," the Doctor amended, pointing between him and Rose.

"Well, don't they have a photo?"

The Doctor looked at Martha. "It might be a shape-changer," he said, as if talking to a five-year-old.

"Whatever it is, can't you just leave to Judoon to find it?"

"Aww, that's boring!" Rose said, grinning.

"One, it's boring," he said, nodding at Rose, "And two, if they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, then they'll sentence it into execution."

"All of us?" Martha said, looking shocked and a little sick.

"Oh yes. If I can find this thing first … Oh! Just that they're thick! The Judoon are thick! They are completely - "

"Thick?" Rose offered, and the Doctor beamed.

"Completely and utterly. They wiped the records!" he said, running a hand through his hair, throwing it more into disarray, if that was possible. "Oh, that's clever."

"What are we looking for?"

"Ugh, I don't know. Any patient admitted in the last week with unusual symptoms. Maybe, just maybe, there's a back up … " he trailed off, deep in concentration once more as his fingers typed at the keyboard with such speed it was a wonder that he didn't make any mistakes.

"Just keep working. I'll go ask Mr Stoker, he might know," Martha said, hurrying out the room.

Rose turned to the Doctor. "Who's Mr Stoker when he's at home?"

"No idea," the Doctor muttered, distractedly, indicating that Rose should hold the sonic against the computer again, and she did so.

He typed quickly, a small smile appearing on his face and it got bigger and bigger the more he typed. "I've done it! Florence Finnegan, came in six days ago. Salt deficiency, it was diagnosed as," he said, jumping up and kissing Rose soundly on the lips, before grabbing her hand and running out the room.

"I've restored the back-up!"

"I've found her!"

The two spoke simultaneously; Rose was the only one to be silent.

"You what?" the Doctor said, and saw two Slabs running up the stairs after Martha. "Run!" he said, pulling Rose along by the hand, Martha following as they ran into a MRI room. "In here! I have an idea that might get rid of them!" he said, pushing Rose and Martha behind the protective glass.

"What are you doing?" Rose said, as the Doctor inserted his sonic screwdriver into a gap in one of the handheld x-ray machines.

"When I say 'now', press the button!" he said, appearing not to have heard Rose.

"I don't know which one!" Martha said, looking at the array of buttons in front of her and Rose, in a variety of shapes and colours.

"Find out!" the Doctor said, as the Slab began knocking down the door.

"Look!" Rose said, managing to find a User's Manual, and pulled it out, flicking through the pages urgently. Martha spotted a good-looking page that said 'X-ray machine' and had a big, yellow button displayed on the page.

"It's our best bet," Martha said, and Rose nodded in agreement.

"Now!" he yelled, and Rose smacked her hand against the button; the Slab glowed blue, his skeleton visible through his thick leather get-up. Next thing they knew, he was dead on the ground.

"What did you do?" demanded Martha, who was staring at the Slab on the ground with morbid fascination.

"Increased the radiation by five thousand percent. Killed him dead."

Martha frowned. "Isn't that likely to kill you?"

"Nah, don't be silly. It's only radiation. I played with roentgen bricks in the nursery," he said, looking down at his feet with curiosity. "You can come out now, I've absorbed it all."

Rose and Martha immediately stepped out from behind the screen, Rose walking to the Doctor's side at once while Martha approached the Slab, poking him with her toe as if to make sure he was dead.

"Right, all I need to do is expel it," he said, as Rose dramatically sighed.

"This better not take as long as last time!" she said, pointing her finger as if scolding a naughty child.

"I don't think it will. Key word: think," he said, "If I concentrate, I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left shoe," he said, for Martha's benefit.

"Last time he did this, it took him an hour to get it all out," Rose supplied, as Martha frowned again.

"Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out, ah, ah, ah, ah. It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot. Ah - hold on!" he said, before whipping off one of his Converse and throwing it in a bin that was nearby. "Done!"

"You are _completely_ mad!" Martha said, eyes wide.

"You're right," he said, looking down at his one bare foot, "I look daft with one shoe on." With a dramatic flourish, he wrenched off his other shoe and threw it in the bin beside his other shoe. He wiggling his toes against the cold tiled floor. "Barefoot on the Moon!" he said, grinning like a lunatic.

"Best way to be, isn't it?" Rose said, grinning as well. It was contagious, because Martha even started smiling, if somewhat reluctantly, as if if someone caught her smiling they'd cart her away to the looney bin with the two 'aliens'.

(Although she still didn't believe they were aliens.)

"What is that thing?" Martha asked, pointing to the Slab, as the Doctor and Rose just kept grinning at each other like lunatics, "And where the hell's it from? The planet Zovirax?"

Rose struggled not to laugh, dearly hoping she wasn't this … human when she'd first come aboard the TARDIS. Like asking if everything was from Mars, like Donna, or using planets like Zovriax as if they were real. Which it was, incidentally, but no-one ever went there because of the cold sores. They covered your entire body, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Rose had seen in, from inside the TARDIS - when the Doctor had taken her because she didn't believe him, she wouldn't let them outside. Because Jackie would have single-handedly killed him if he'd taken Rose back covered in cold sores.

"It's just a Slab. They're called Slabs. Basic slave drones, see?" the Doctor said, crouching down beside the leather-clad finger and shaking him slightly. "Solid leather, and the way through. Someone's got one hell of a fetish."

Rose poked the dead Slab in the shoulder; sure enough, it was tough and kind of squishy. She made a face and retracted her hand. Martha hadn't even crouched down, preferring to stay standing and look down her nose at it. Not in a bad way, just as if it was … well, Rose didn't really know what she was doing, but it was understandable considering she maybe wasn't as cut-out for this life as Rose herself was.

"It came with that woman, Mrs Finnegan. It was working for her, like a servant," Martha said, an urgent tone lacing her voice.

"Told ya – Finnegan," the Doctor said to Rose, who was still crouched over the other side of the dead Slab.

"You're telling me like I doubted you," Rose said, teasing, and stood up. "Well, we better go find this Finnegan person before the Judoon does."

"Yep. Hold on," the Doctor said, rushing over to the x-ray machine and taking out the remains of a burnt and melted sonic screwdriver. "My sonic screwdriver," he said, looking at it as if he was a five-year-old who had just dropped his ice-cream in a particularly muddy puddle.

"She was one of the patients - " Martha was carrying on, oblivious to what the sonic actually was.

"Sorry, Doctor. Will you get a new one?" Rose said, inspecting the sonic, coming to the conclusion it was well and truly melted.

"She had a straw like some kind of, some kind of _vampire_ - " Martha wasn't even listening, but said the final word with disgust on her face. The Doctor just stared at Martha. Note to self: never suggest to Martha to go to Transylvania. Particularly the North-West. Last time he'd gone, he'd been accused of being from an enemy vampire clan (if there was even such a thing, as the Doctor believed they'd just made up the story as an excuse to kill him) and Rose had narrowly escaped a wooden spear through the heart. It was a memorable trip, for all the wrong reasons. He'd only gone to show Rose that all vampires weren't as friendly or as good-looking as Edward Cullen.

A spark came from the sonic in his hand, reminding him of his broken and beloved screwdriver. "I loved my sonic screwdriver …" he was back to the broken tool in his hand.

"Doctor!" Martha said, impatiently, and Rose realised this was the first time she'd called the Doctor 'Doctor'.

"Sorry!" he said, lovingly throwing the sonic into a bin. He'd make another one, it wasn't too hard. Not like rocket science, or anything. Rocket science was so easy once you got the hang of it, it really was. Ask Rose – or better not, if you want her to go on and on about the migraine she got after trying to understand it. "You called me Doctor!" he said, looking pleased.

"Anyway!" she said, impatiently. "Miss Finnegan's the alien. _She was drinking Mr Stoker's blood!_" She said, carefully pronouncing each word, clearly hoping for one of them to tell her she was hallucinating due to lack of oxygen. They were in no such hurry, and looked at each other, the answer clearly being on the other person's face.

"Funny time to take a snack," the Doctor said, starting to pace, stroking his chin as if he was stroking a beard, reminding Martha scarily of Dumbledore from _Harry Potter_.

"If she was an alien, you'd think she'd be hiding," Rose said, pacing as well, although she wasn't stroking an imaginary beard.

The Doctor looked at her, dumbfounded for a moment, before smiling widely. Martha had no idea someone could actually smile so wide, and that was his mouth halfway open. "Rose Marion Tyler, you are the official genius of planet Earth," the Doctor said, gleefully. Rose smiled, although in Martha's opinion she looked as though he just asked her if she knew the directions to Tesco. Which, judging by their earlier comments, she didn't. The Doctor proceeded to snog the daylights out of her, only breaking apart when Martha coughed.

"Sorry," the Doctor said, not looking sorry at all. "I think … no, I _know_ … Miss Finnegan is a shape changer. Internal shape changer, of course. She wasn't drinking the blood, she was assimilating it!" he said, clicking his fingers. "If she can assimilate Mr Stoker's blood, mimic the morphology, she can register as human. We've got the find her and show the Judoon. Come on!" he said, running out into the corridor, dragging Rose by the hand; leaving Martha to trail after them, wondering when her day had gotten so impossibly weird.

* * *


	22. Dead Doctors Are Not Useful

**Dead Doctors Are Not As Useful As They Seem**

**Finally, last part of Smith and Jones! I'm so sorry this took so long, but hopefully  
you'll enjoy it so it's worth the wait. Please, i'd love it if you dropped me a review  
or PM telling me which episodes you'd like me to cover. coz i have no clue. and  
i am sorry for the random chapter title, i couldn't think of one so you got that one.**

* * *

Five minutes later, we join our travelling trio and yet again they crouched behind some plant pots. This was not good for the legs, as cramp was beginning to signal it's arrival.

"That's the thing about Slabs," the Doctor said, so quietly Rose almost didn't catch it. "They always travel in pairs."

"What about you two?" Martha said, and both Rose and the Doctor looked at her.

"What about us two what?"

"Haven't you got, like, back-up or something? You guys claim to know about aliens – hell, you claim to _be_ aliens – so you must work for some government agency or something," Martha whispered.

Rose nearly burst out laughing, and the Doctor looked close. Biting on the inside of her lip to stop herself from roaring with laughter at the thought of her and the Doctor working for something like Torchwood. She couldn't imagine it. More likely than not the Doctor would probably get bored and start doing his own thing, and Rose could imagine him protesting at the unfair treatment of aliens.

"Humans!" the Doctor said, finally, after a few moments of stunned silence. "We're stuck on the moon, running out of air with the Judoon, a bloodsucking criminal and worst of all no sonic screwdriver, and you're asking personal questions!" He rolled his eyes, then looked to Rose for support.

She shook her head. "Nuh-uh, Mister. I used to be human, so don't go insulting them and then expect me to throw in a comment. We're half as well, y'know," she said, waggling her finger at him, "So don't go giving yourself airs. Oh, god, I sound like my mother," she said, her face changing from one of amusement to one of horror.

"Yeah, you did," the Doctor said, and Rose looked scandalised, obviously not expecting him to agree. He smiled. "But you're much prettier." Rose blushed, and smiled.

"You _are_ half human, aren't you?" Rose said, as if seeking confirmation. He nodded.

"I like that. 'Half-human'. I'm still not convinced you two are aliens," Martha said, amusement dancing in her eyes.

The Doctor peeked around the corner, and nodded to the two women. They stepped out and ran straight into a Judoon, the Doctor stopping so abruptly that Rose walked straight into his back, a small _'umph' _emitted from her.

The Doctor was nose-to-nose with the Judoon. He couldn't help but notice they stank. Reeked, even, and not in the going-out-on-Saturday-night reeked. As in ponged. He opened his mouth to say a witty one-liner about the importance of personal hygiene when the Judoon did exactly what he hoped they wouldn't; shone their little blue light in his face.

"Damn," he muttered. Rose tapped his shoulder blade in sympathy, her small hand worming it's way into his larger one.

"Non-human," the Judoon said finally, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a nasty-looking laser gun.

"Oh, my God, you really are!" Martha said, disbelief etching her features. Rose couldn't help but wonder how she was so surprised, they'd hardly been striving to keep it a secret from her.

"And again!" the Doctor said, pulling Rose along by the hand and leaving Martha to follow as they ran away from the Judoon, who seemed intent on killing them. A bolt of a laser gun shot in their direction and hit over the top of their heads, causing Martha to scream aloud. Luckily, the Judoon obviously weren't built for speed and the trio lost them, having run down some stairs. Rose peeked through the door, and ran back to where the Doctor and Martha were waiting, shaking her head.

"They're not following us," she said, having been sent to see if the Judoon were still on their tail.

"They've done this floor," the Doctor said absently, looking at a oxygen-deprived patient with a large, black 'X' on his hand. He turned to explain to the two women. "The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't come back to check a floor they've already checked. If we're lucky," the Doctor added, sniffing.

"Julia," Martha said, going over to a nurse, the same one – Swales, if Rose remembered rightly – they'd left in the ward before going out to discover the Judoon.

"How much oxygen is there?" Martha was asking Swales.

"Not enough for all these people," Swales replied, a frown creasing her forehead as she held an oxygen mask over a weak patient's mouth. "We're going to run out sooner rather than later."

Martha straightened up, looking to the Doctor and Rose.

"How are you feeling, are you all right?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm fine. Running on adrenaline," she admitted, and Rose smirked.

"Welcome to our world," Rose said, but pulled at the top of her blue hoodie dramatically. "The air is getting pretty tight, isn't it?" she said.

The Doctor nodded, but didn't seem to be in any discomfort. _Respiratory bypass system_, Rose remembered. Of course he would be able to go without air.

"What about the Judoon? Will they run out of air, too?" Martha asked, a smidgen of hope in her voice.

"Ah, great big lung reserves, won't slow them down," the Doctor said, and the hope Martha had faded; the Doctor and Rose, however, didn't really seem too bothered. "Where's Mr. Stoker's office?"

Martha pointed to the right. "It's this way," she said, and led the way down some corridors, through countless double-doors and past hundreds of patients dying from lack of oxygen. Rose tried not to look.

"In here," Martha said finally, outside a door with a silver plaque.

The Doctor pushed the handle down, and it was open. The three entered, only to find Finnegan gone, and Mr. Stoker lying on the floor, eyes wide open, his skin having obviously bypassed white and was going for a greyish tinge. He looked like a vampire, Rose noted.

"She's gone! She was here … " Martha was saying, as the Doctor, rather than step around the desk, put his bum on it and swivelled his legs from one side to the other, before examining Mr. Stoker.

"Drained him dry. Every last drop. I was right; she's a Plasmavore."

Martha gasped so loud it was almost theatrical. Rose struggled not to laugh. "So, what's she doing on Earth?"

"Hiding, like Rose said. On the run, like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro. Remember him?"

"Yeah. He was not the nicest person I've ever met. The smelliest, but never the nicest," Rose said. "Stank. Hadn't had a shower in six months," she said to Martha, who winced.

The Doctor threw her an amused look. "But what's she - the plasmavore, not Ronald Biggs - doing now, is the real question. She's still not safe, the Judoon could execute us all … c'mon," he said, pulling Rose up from Mr. Stoker and heading towards the door. "Martha," he called, as she remained bent beside her bosses' still form.

"Coming," she said, and touched Stoker's body; Rose realised she was closing his eyes. She felt a rush of sympathy for Martha; however much of a pompous idiot he was (at least, that was the impression Rose had got), he was still her boss.

They walked together out of the office, and into the corridor. "Think, think, think," he said, bashing the hand that wasn't in Rose's against his forehead. "If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police … and don't worry, I'm not," he said to Martha, for her benefit as she didn't quite know what alien he was. Or, what type of aliens they were. Nice as it sounded, it felt like going against the grain, and it was going to take some getting used to, calling Rose an alien. He looked up, and was face to face with the large sign. MRI Room.

Rose saw him looking at the sign with a delighted grin on his face. "Plan?"

"For once," the Doctor said, smirking. "She's as clever as me. Almost."

Suddenly, the Judoon's voice echoed out. "Find the non-human. Execute."

"I need time. Wait, have I got it? No, yes, no, yes!" he said, and Martha and Rose shared bewildered glances. "I need you two to stay here, to hold 'em up."

"Nu-uh, Mister, don't even think ab - "

Rose was cut off as the Doctor clamped his hand lightly over her mouth. "I know, but for this one time only, you're going to have to. This once, because we don't have time to argue," he said, pulling a bio-damper out of his pocket, identical to the one he'd given Donna.

Rose pulled his hand away from her mouth. "Why didn't you use that earlier?" she said, eyeing the bio-damper in his hand.

"I kinda-maybe-sorta forget I had it," he said, hopping from one foot to the other, impatient. He checked something on the right, before tossing the ring to her, and Rose slipped it on. "It'll hide the part-Time-Lord part of you. It's a modified version, I made them stronger after Donna, in case of … well, now, really. They'd have to be really strong to hide Time Lords, so ta-da!"

The Judoon were getting closer; they could hear the footsteps. "'Kay," Rose said, as Martha nodded. It was clear Rose was not happy about staying behind.

"Rose, I need you to do this. And, I need to both of you safe," he said, and Martha knew he was not referring to her. "I'll see you soon, Shiver," he said, completely ignorant of Martha.

"Not if I see you first, Shake," Rose replied, before proceeding to snog him senseless.

Martha just stood there, embarrassed, waiting for them to stop. Did they ever need air? Apparently not, it seemed. The Judoon appeared at the end of the corridor.

Martha cleared her throat, and the Doctor pulled back to look at her oddly. Martha just pointed at the Judoon, and with a chaste kiss to Rose, he ran off.

* * *

The MRI room door slid open, and a slightly ruffled figure with slightly swollen lips entered. Florence Finnegan was working with the controls, swivelling around when the Doctor sniffed. He couldn't help noticing the MRI machine was acting odd.

"Have you seen - there are these things, those great big space rhino things, I mean rhinos from space. And we're on the moon. Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon. And I only came in for my bunions, look," he said, playing the 'confused human' card. He showed her his feet, still bare from the radiation incident.

Florence just looked at him.

"They're all right now, perfectly good treatment, I said to my wife, I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon. And did I mention the rhinos? With GUNS? My wife was going mental. I was only meant to pop in. Was shouting at me because I never got to Tesco's to get teabags. She likes her tea, she does," he rambled, and he could see Florence was getting impatient.

"Hold him!" she said, and the Slab held him in a grip even he couldn't worm out of. For someone made of leather, he had a death grip.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the corridor, Martha and Rose were having small mental breakdowns. Rose, because she had no idea how to hold up the Judoon, and Martha, because … well, she was being hunted by aliens, she had a right to.

The Judoon came stomping up to them, and Martha and Rose was soon cornered against a wall.

"Now, listen. I know who you are looking for. A woman, she calls her Florence … " Rose said, looking the Judoon in the eye, trying not to breathe, for the fact the stench coming from him was unbelievable.

"Finnegan. She's a plasmavore, about this high," Martha supplied, holding up her hand to about her shoulder, "And she's wearing a hospital gown. She's about sixty-seven."

Rose knew this information was unimportant to the Judoon, but Martha was doing the main objective; hold the Judoon up, so the Doctor could do whatever he had to do. She hoped to God that it wasn't anything stupid or drastic.

"Human," the Judoon said, drawing a black 'X' on Martha's hand. He moved onto Rose, who bit her lip, praying that the upgraded bio-damper would work.

"Human, with non-human traits suspected," the Judoon said, flicking a switch so an even brighter light shone on Rose's face, making her squint. "Non-human traits confirmed. What are you? What are you?" He repeated, pushing her against the wall as it scanned her.

* * *

Florence Finnegan was busy. Her Earth domination plan was going great, and now this little man had come stumbling in, ranting about bunions and teabags. Well, he was going to be worrying about a lot more than getting to Tesco by the time Florence was done with him, you could bet on that. She smiled grimly.

"That thing," the Doctor butted in, nodding to the MRI machine from where he was still encased in a Slab's grip, "That big machine thing, is it supposed to be making that noise?"

"You wouldn't understand," Florence snapped, not taking her eyes off the machine she was currently modifying.

"Isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of a magnet? I did magnets at GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same," he said, smiling. If he was going to go down with an old woman, he was at least going to try and save himself with only the gift of the gab. Then, he thought of Rose. Holding the Judoon up, for him. Risking her life, every day, for him and their adventures. Carrying their baby, their little accident that had turned into their glorious little miracle.

He knew then that he was _not _going to die.

Or regenerate. Wait, he couldn't regenerate.

He forgot about the blood exchange with Rose. Since that, he couldn't regenerate, since the one-hundredth vortex meant he would live in his body forever. Regenerate into the same body, in a fashion. Heal himself.

He didn't know if the vortex's powers stretched to bloodsucking. It was all too new, too unknown, he hadn't run proper tests yet. No person had ever been one-hundredth vortex. Only he knew of one person who had the full extent of the vortex's powers, and that was Rose when she absorbed it. She was a God when she had one hundred percent. He didn't think they were Gods - he didn't want to be, thank you very much - but he knew, somewhere inside of him, that they were different. Hybrids, if you insisted on using the term to the Doctor hated.

He knew then what he was going to do.

He was not going to go die. He was not about to go dying when Rose and the baby needed him most. A steely new resolve burned inside of him. He'd always, always tried to save himself for Rose, but now it wasn't just trying. He was going to, no questions, no choice, no other option. He was going to get out of this room with the same face he came into it with.

Florence, while he was having his inner epiphany, had turned around, smiling in an evil way which reminded the Doctor of Mr. Burns of _The Simpson's._ He really needed to stop watching so much TV. He blamed Rose, she was the one that brought that damn Sky+ box into the TARDIS in the first place. "The magnetic setting is now at 50,000 Tesla," she said, clearly delighted with this face.

"Ooh," the Doctor said, pulling a face. "That's a big strong, is it not?"

"With it, I can send out a magnetic pulse that will fry the brainstems of every living thing within 250,000 miles! Except me, safe in this room," she said, gesturing to the room.

"But … " he said, disgusted by the thought, fighting to keep the confused mask on his face. "Hold on, hold on a minute, I did geography for GCSE and I passed that one - doesn't that distance include the Earth?"

Florence smirked; it looked somewhat out of place on the older woman's face. "Only the side facing the moon. The other half will survive - call it my little gift," she said.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman, hence the bunions - why would you do that?"

"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape!" she said, smiling again. Ahh, so that was her plan. To be on the run, with the Judoon ships. Of course - no-one would stop Judoon ships if they saw them in space, it was against the law. Like stopping a police car on the middle of a road when the sirens are on. They wouldn't know it wasn't a Judoon piloting those ships, so she'd be somewhat safe.

He once again fought to keep enlightenment and disgust from his perfect mask. "You're talking like you're some kind of alien!" he said, managing to lace disbelief into his laugh.

"Right-o."

The Doctor's mouth dropped open so far it would be comical in another situation. "No!"

"Yes."

"You're joshing me," he said, his mouth still agape, although his mind was currently on the fact that Josh was quite a nice name for a boy. He made a mental note to mention it to Rose later.

"I am not," Florence said, scandalised.

"I'm talking to an _alien_? In the hospital. What, has this place got an ET department?" he said, laughing at his own joke, although his wit was wasted on this apparently humourless

plasmavore.

"Well, it's the perfect hiding place," she said, again gesturing to the room. "Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment I'm ready to arm myself with should the police come looking!"

"So … " the Doctor said, pretending to be a human, and put two and two together slower. "Those rhinos, they're looking for you?"

"Yes, but I'm hidden," she said, holding up her right hand, a black 'X' printed on her wrinkled skin.

"Oh! Right! Maybe that's why they are increasing their scans," he said, biting his lip in false worry and confusion.

"They're doing what?" Florence said, obviously startled. The Doctor smothered a grin.

"That big chief rhino boy, he said, what was it … 'no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans up to setting two', I think it was," he said.

"Then I must assimilate again," Florence muttered, but the Doctor picked it up.

"What does that mean?" the Doctor said, a false frown creasing his forehead.

"I must appear human," she seemed worried. She fished about in her bag, and coming out with a straw not unlike those commonly found in cinemas and McDonald's. The Doctor switched onto ramble mode, knowing he only had seconds left.

"Well, by all means, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife. She'd be honoured. We'll have cake. She's a good cook, my wife. Rose, her name is … a much better cook than her mother, she just makes sludge, although that's between me and you … " He was looking at the straw apprehensively.

"Why would I want cake? I have my little straw," she said, waving it around in front of his face.

"That's … nice," he said, worry now coming into his voice. "Milkshake? I like banana, myself," he said, smiling.

"Quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness. It's time you

found some peace. Steady him." Her voice changed from wistful to commanding, and the Slab wrenched him by the hair until he was tilting on one side.

"W-what are you doing?" he said, as Florence stroked the side of his neck, which was now very visible.

"Now, I'm afraid this is going to hurt," she said, smiling at the look of horror on the Doctor's face. "But if it's any consolation," her voice dropped to a whisper, "The dead don't tend to remember."

* * *

The Judoon were still scrutinising Rose while her boyfriend was getting abused by a plasmavore.

"Confirmed: human," he said, and Rose breathed a sigh of relief. They had been fooled by the upgraded bio-damper. Not that she'd doubted the Doctor for a second. "Traces of facial contact with non-human, continue the search."

"Traces of facial contact? There were only traces?" Martha muttered, Rose too absorbed in the Judoon to hear.

"You will need this," the Judoon said, handing her a slip of paper.

"What is this?" Rose waved it around. It had words on it, but Rose didn't have the time or patience to read it; to Martha, it was just a lot of squiggles.

"Compensation."

* * *

The Doctor really, really hoped Rose was coming soon. The room was swimming in and out of conciousness, as his blood was being sucked out of him.

The door slammed open, and heavy footfalls signalled the arrival of the Judoon. The Doctor felt his hearts stop, the majority of his blood gone from his body.

"Now look! See what you've done - this poor man died of fright!" Florence said, pointing to the body of the Doctor on the floor.

"Scan him! Confirmation: deceased," he said, scanning him.

A choked sob sounded behind him. "No … no, he can't be, he physically can't be!" Rose was verging on hysterical sounding. "Please, let me see h-him!" She barely got the last word out, barging through Judoon to get to him, Martha close by.

He seemed dead. Still. Ashen, not breathing. _But he said we couldn't die_, Rose thought, collapsing at his side. She was vaguely aware of Martha picking up his wrist. _He has to wake up. Please. Don't leave me, don't leave us._

"There's no pulse," Martha whispered, beyond disbelief herself.

"Case closed," a Judoon called, and Rose sobbed louder, holding onto his hand, cradling his body against her own. Even Martha had a tear rolling down her cheek at the pure heartbreak on the woman's face.

Martha decided she was at least, for his sake and for Rose's, she was going to bring his murderer to justice.

"But it was her!" she said, pointing a finger at Florence. "She killed him. She did it. She murdered him!"

Rose's sobs got louder at the word 'murder'.

"The Judoon have no authority over human crime," was the mechanical reply.

"But she's not human!" Martha said, and Florence laughed.

"Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued." She held up her hand, again displaying her black 'X' on her hand as evidence.

"But she's not! She assimila - wait, you drank his blood? You drank the Doctor's blood?" Martha smiled grimly. She snatched a scanner off the nearest Judoon, pressing the blue button - it was her best bet, and it worked, shining a ray of blue light into Florence's face.

"Oh, all right," Florence said, as if surrendering. "Scan all you like!"

The scanner chirped, and the Judoon read the output. "Non-human," the Judoon read.

"What?" Florence's voice was shocked.

"Confirm analysis," the Judoon said, as a brighter light not unlike the one they had shone at Rose beamed onto Florence's face.

"Oh, but it's a m-mistake, surely, I'm as human as they-y come … " Florence stuttered, clearly dumbfounded by this latest turn of events.

"He gave his life so they could find you. He had a family, you know that? He'll never see his unborn child, thanks to you," Martha said, hoping to form some remorse out of the plasmavore.

"Confirmed: plasmavore. I charge you with the murder with the crime of murdering the Princess of Patrival Regincy Nine," the Judoon chanted.

The plasmavore snapped. "She deserved it! Those pink cheeks, and those blond curls, and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore," she said, running her tongue over her teeth in a way that made a shiver of fear race down Martha's spine.

"Do you confess?" the Judoon were withdrawing their guns.

Martha shot a look at Rose, who was in no state to do anything. She was still cradling the Doctor's ashen body, tears streaming down her face; she made no attempt to move them.

"Confess?" Florence said, eyes alight. "I'm proud of it! Slab, stop them!" On her command, the Slab shot a laser beam at the Judoon at the same time they did; the Judoon won, and the Slab disintegrated.

"Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution," the Judoon said. No-one noticed the MRI was flashing 'magnetic overload'.

"Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me, burn in hell!" she said, as a shot of light disintegrated her as easily as the Slab.

Now that the plasmavore was dead, Martha rushed over to the Doctor, who hadn't responded to anything Rose was saying. He really was dead. Martha felt like crying, crying for Rose who would now have to bring up her child alone, without it's father. Crying for the Doctor, who would never see his child being born or grown up.

She was dimly aware of the Judoon announcing the case closed. Martha looked up from her crouch beside the Doctor's body.

"What did she mean 'burn with me?' The scanner shouldn't be doing that, she's done something to it," she said, pointing at the MRI. The Judoon stalked over and scanned it, reading the output.

"Scans detect lethal acceleration of the monomagnetic pulse," the Judoon announced. Rose tore her sodden and swollen eyes away from her boyfriend's dead body to the machine, having no idea what they were talking about.

"Stop it," she whispered, her voice hoarse, as if she hadn't used it in a long time. "Please."

"Well, do something! Stop it!" Martha shouted at the Judoon.

"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."

"You can't just leave it!" Martha yelled, "What's it going to do?"

The Judoon ignored her, instead evacuating.

"You can't leave it! We're running out of air! That … thing is gonna explode and it's your fault!" she said, pointing at a retreating Judoon. She turned back to the Doctor and Rose.

"Let me try something," Martha said, moving Rose, who wasn't in any position to protest, as she started CPR. "One, two, three, four, five … any oxygen tanks, Rose?" she said, as she took a deep breath to connect her mouth to the Doctor's to give him some vital air.

Rose walked over the other side of the room like a robot, before coming back and shook her head.

"Take a breath, keep breathing, don't hold you're breath, it will make it worse," Martha ordered, and Rose did as she was told, breathing normally. Martha repeated the pulmonary techniques. "It's not working ... " she muttered, and Rose caught it.

"Oh … he's got two hearts," Rose said, her voice a monotone, and Martha could hear her struggling for breath. She obviously wasn't aware of what was going on around her, or she'd be a lot more responsive to the fact Martha was trying to save her boyfriend.

" … 'Kay," Martha said, repeating the action on the right side of his chest. "Any oxygen, Rose?"

Rose shook her head. "Used up," she said, barely, starting to drift in and out of conciousness.

Beneath Martha's hands, the Doctor started to cough, his hearts fighting to work with the blood loss. Martha smiled at him, before gasping.

Rose was unconscious. Martha knew oxygen starvation wasn't good for the baby - even though the baby was alien, and she didn't know what it might do, she just assumed that it would cause brain damage, the same as humans. She ran outside and found a quarter-full oxygen tank, placing the mask over Rose's mouth.

"The scanner," Martha said, to the now slightly more concious Doctor, watching as Rose's eyes began to flutter, "She did something."

The Doctor, barely concious himself, took a couple of breaths before staggering to his feet, unplugging the scanner. The machine died down, and he crawled towards Rose, who still had the oxygen mask over her mouth.

She was regaining conciousness, however slowly. The Doctor picked her small form up and cradled her against his chest, and gave the oxygen mask to Martha, who was on the floor. He could give Rose any oxygen she needed.

He staggered to a window, praying. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, Judoon, reverse it," he said, as it started to pour. "It's raining on the moon, Rosie," he said to the unconscious woman in his arms, who only mumbled, 'Doctor' as a reply.

He smiled. A flash of white, and they were gone.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose walked towards the TARDIS, hand-in-hand. Rose was still staring at him as if he was gonna disappear.

"I thought you were dead," she said quietly, looking at their intertwined hands.

"For a moment," the Doctor said, equally as quietly, "So did I."

Rose looked up at him, and pressed her lips to his softly. "But you're not … and that's what counts, yeah?" she said, giving him another kiss, not as softly this time.

"Yeah," he said softly, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, before pointing to a figure. "Look," he said, as Martha looked at them, as a woman beside her was talking and hugging her frantically.

The couple waved, and made their way to the TARDIS. "I think, a trip to the Vortex may be in order," he said, as the TARDIS dematerialised.

"Yeah," Rose said, resting a hand lightly on her stomach, "And I want a jam doughnut. Now."

The Doctor laughed loudly, the sound like music to Rose's ears. Neither of them noticed Martha's shocked face as they disappeared without another trace.

* * *

A few weeks later (two and a half, if anyone's being specific) and the Doctor and Rose returned for buying milk at Tesco, again. They seemed to go through it at an alarming rate.

The Doctor took all the bags, as Rose was showing off quite a neat little bump now, and he was always banging on about heavy weights and pregnant women. He was putting them in the TARDIS when she saw her.

Martha, having what could only be described as a tiff outside a pub. A young woman in a short dress was yelling at an older (but not old) woman in a longer dress, pulling on a man's arm who was considerably older than her.

"What day is this?" Rose said, asking the Doctor as she walked back to the TARDIS, poking her head through the door.

"Hmm … not too sure. Why?" he asked, and Rose pointed round the corner to Martha.

"Remember, she said she had a party the night of the Judoon. I think we've landed on the same day," Rose said, smiling.

"Remember we were going to go and find her … I think we should take this opportunity," the Doctor smiled, and the pair decided to wait on the corner. Of course, soon enough, Martha spotted them, and smiled. They disappeared around the corner, hoping Martha would follow.

As they hoped, Martha made an appearance less than ten seconds later, her face in a smal l smile. "I went to the moon today," she declared, and Rose and the Doctor exchanged a look.

"Bit more peaceful than down here," Rose said, bobbing her head in the direction of the argument. Martha just rolled her eyes, then they widened as they took in Rose's slightly more rounded shape.

"Either you've gotten much bigger in the last six hours, or you've … gotten bigger within the last six hours," she said, as Rose rested a hand on her stomach.

"We'll tell you later," Rose said, smiling. Martha frowned.

"Honestly, you don't tell me anything - not even who you are!" she said, throwing her hands up.

"The Doctor and Rose," the Doctor said, pointing to them both. "Hello!" they both waved comically.

"But what sort of species are you? God, it's not every day I get to ask that, is it?" Martha said, looking slightly shocked.

The Doctor and Rose laughed. "We're part Time Lord," the Doctor said, fully prepared for Martha to ask 'what?'

"Oh … so not pompous at all, then?" was her sarcastic answer, which made all three roar with laughter; one because he knew she'd hit the nail right on the head, one become she knew she might be slightly right, and one because the other two were.

Rose stopped laughing and elbowed him sharply, causing the Doctor to wince. Rose nodded her head in Martha's direction.

"I'm getting there, you don't need to wound me!" he said, rubbing his ribs. Rose rolled her eyes. Martha frowned.

The Doctor smiled. "Right, Martha Jones. Since you saved our lives, and I've got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, and we've got tons upon tons of worlds left in the universe to visit, I thought you might like a trip. To say thanks."

Martha looked dumbfounded. "What, in space?"

The Doctor nodded.

"I … can't," Martha said, eventually, disappointment oozing from every pore. The Doctor nodded, while Rose looked just as disappointed as Martha was. "I've got exams, I've got things to do. I have to go and pay my rent first thing, and then my family's kinda going mad … I just can't."

Rose was smiling now, because she knew what the Doctor was going to say before he said it.

"If it helps, I can also travel in time, as well."

He never said it to anyone else the way he said it to her. The five words, he always insisted, saved his life. Did I mention, _It also travels in time _?

Never quite the same, and it made Rose's smile a little bit brighter as Martha looked on at them quite dumbfounded.

"Get out of here," she was saying, walking one step away as if they were mad.

"We can, can't we, Rose?" the Doctor said, and Rose nodded.

"Yep. Met Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, Ronald Biggs … and I've got photos to prove it," Rose said, smiling. "Well, some have, because he-" she pointed to the Doctor - "Wouldn't let me take photos of people before cameras weren't invented. Something about

timelines and that rubbish."

Martha laughed, but the Doctor looked offended.

"It isn't rubbish, you can't invent the camera before it was actually invented," he said, nodding as if that was the final say.

"Ye-ah, Mister 'I just made the VCR 30 years early'. Don't try and kid me, even though I may have had no face … you gloated about it later so I know," Rose said, and Martha coughed.

"Sorry, 'scuse me … you had no face?!" she said, eyes wide. Rose grinned.

"Later," she said, and the Doctor nodded.

"Go and get the pictures, Rose, so Miss Jones can have her proof," he said, grinning as well. It only took two seconds for Rose to retrieve her camera from it's perch on the central column. Martha gasped as she looked at the pictures of far-off worlds with red sand to pictures of the Doctor and Rose with Albert Einstein.

"Okay … I believe you. Either that or you guys spent way to much time with Photoshop," she said, and the three laughed. "Yeah, I believe you. But you are mental. Wait a minute … if you can travel in time, why didn't you just stop the Judoon from coming? Or at least go back and get rid of Finnegan earlier? Or stop her from coming?"

The Doctor gasped dramatically. "Ahh. Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden."

"Except for cheap tricks," Rose butted in, "Or you have an ex-con-man-slash-Time-Agent called Jack Harkness on board. Then it's just best to go with it, or he gets you drunk and you go along with it anyway," she said, smiling.

"Okay," Martha said, slightly spooked out by Rose's 'Jack' person. She gestured to Rose's bump. "That must be why you're bigger. It's been longer for you, hasn't it?"

Rose laughed. "She's smart, this one," she said to the Doctor, who nodded.

"Is that's your spaceship?" Martha asked, pointing the TARDIS.

"Yep. It's called the TARDIS - Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," he elaborated, stroking the outside of the beautiful time ship.

"And he doesn't go a day without stroking her like a cat," Rose butted in, smiling at his hand, which the Doctor withdrew quickly.

Martha had caught him though as well. "Boys and their toys, I guess."

"Tell me about it."

Martha walked up to the TARDIS, and contradicting herself slightly, started stroking the TARDIS too. "Your spaceship is made of wood," she said, knocking her knuckles against it. "There's not much room, how do you both get inside - more to the point, how would all three of us get inside? It'd be a bit cosy."

"Take a look," the Doctor said, pushing the door open dramatically. Martha gasped, walked inside, and walked back out again, in much the same fashion as Rose had done when she first arrived.

"Oh, no no no!" she was saying, looking around the sides. "It's just box. But it's huge! How does it do that, it's made of wood!" she said, against rapping her knuckles against it, as if to make sure it really was wood.

Martha made her way back inside, to the central column. The Doctor and Rose leant against the railing, facing each other, laughing at Martha's fascination. "It's like a box with this room rammed in."

The Doctor started mouthing words along with Martha, making Rose giggle. "It's bigger on the inside!"

"Is it?" Rose said, closing the TARDIS doors as Martha didn't seem to want to leave.

"We hadn't noticed," the Doctor said sarcastically, shrugging off his overcoat and tossing it lazily over a support strut. He rubbed his hands together. "All right, then, let's get going!"

"But is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff?" Martha enquired, walking around the central column, trailing a finger around the rim as she admired all the bits and bobs that littered the column.

"Nope, just us. We can fly it ourselves, can't we, Rose?" the Doctor said, resting himself against the captain's chair as Martha familiarised herself. Rose walked over to him and giggled.

"Barely. If you count 'flying' as falling on your arse all the time."

"And it's just you guys?" Martha said, evidently stuck on the personal questions.

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'. "Sometimes we have guests, though, like yourself. Like Donna," he said.

"Mickey."

"Adam."

"Jack."

"Madame de Pompadour," the Doctor said, laughing aloud at the look on Rose's face. "Although she wasn't liked quite as much by some, was she, Rose?" he said, clearly teasing her. Rose just stuck her tongue out playfully, but Martha could see something in her eyes before it was wiped clean. It was evidently in the past, whatever it was.

"She doesn't count, she never came on board, ha!" she said, as the Doctor laughed, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, then there was - "

"You don't have to list them all, y'know," Martha said, cutting him off. The Doctor smiled.

"I know, I know … right, okay then, Miss Martha Jones. One trip, to say thanks. We can't stay in one place for too long. I'd much rather be on a world with inhabitants that have hands when Rose goes into labour."

"And I'd quite like that too, shockingly," Rose said sarcastically. Martha grinned.

"Right-o! Alonsy! Still haven't met an Alonzo. Do you know anyone called Alonzo, Martha? Anyway," he said, not giving her time to answer, he ran around the other side of the colum n and started pressing random buttons. "Close down the gravitic anomalizer. Fire up the helmic regulator. And, finally, Rose, the handbrake," he said, as Rose stood there, her hand

poised over a lever. "Ready?" he shot the last question to Martha.

"No," she said honestly, although she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Off we go, Rosieeee!" he said, as she released the handbrake, and as if on cue the TARDIS jolted, shook and made all three occupants fall hard on their backsides.

"Blimey!" Martha said, as she grasped onto the rim of the central column as Rose and the Doctor were doing to hoist themselves up, one of the Doctor's arms around Rose's slender waist to make sure she didn't go tumbling. "It's a bit bumpy!"

All three laughed, and the Doctor stuck out his hand. "Welcome aboard, Miss Jones," he said in a pompous voice, and Martha giggled, shaking his hand.

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Tyler," she said, and the Doctor and Rose exchanged a look before they shot off into time and space.


	23. Expelliarmus?

**Expelliarmus?**

**oooh another chapter quickly. i'm trying to do one a week. i've decided that i'm not going to do every episode,  
just certain scenes, like in this one, and concentrate more on my own story and the bits inbetween. this is not  
and 'series 3 with rose' series, so ... we might deviate from the track a little, but i still want to do some episodes.  
and i know what sex the baby is going to be, but i haven't decided on a name yet. drop some reviews with any  
suggestions for names for any sex (coz i ain't telling you!) and i'll love you forever. picking a name is really hard.**

* * *

It was 1599 and there was poo in the streets.

They had just witnessed the death of Linley, and they were still puzzled by it. The Doctor had spent half an hour pulling his hair out over it, until Rose had to physically stop him saying that she was quite attached to his hair and it wouldn't quite be the same with him bald. Dolly had shown them to a double room, apologising profusely as it was the only one they had at such short notice.

Rose sat on the bed, legs dangling off the side, while the Doctor was perched in a chair beside it - he had taken to liberty of putting his feet on Rose's lap, and after several pokes in a useless attempt to move them, she gave up and settled for tickling his ankle instead. Martha was sleeping soundly in the bed as well, beside Rose. The Doctor, being a perfect gentleman, had offered that the two girls take the bed while he take the chair. Neither had protested.

"Martha's taking it well, isn't she? If I recall, you were still up 36 hours after meeting the Nestene."

"Well, you were the one that suggested coffee," Rose reasoned, as the Doctor laughed silently. "And yeah, she is, I guess," she added, looking over at the sleeping woman.

"She's the first one to suggest we record something and sell it, I'll give her that," he said, smirking slightly at the memory.

Rose gasped. "I know! I almost died laughing right there. That never ever even went through my head, to be honest," she said, contemplating. "Nah, I never thought that. Was too busy seeing the beauty of the Earth being destroyed," - a little bit of sarcasm slipped into her voice - "to be too bothered about recording it."

"I'm glad. Otherwise, I would be taking Jack with me, not you," he teased, nudging her knee with his foot.

"So you're telling me if I had said 'wait, let me go get my camcorder' when you were picking me up outside the London Eye beside Mickey in your other body, then you would have went 'Nah, just forget about coming with me then' and slammed the door in my face?" Instead of being angry, Rose just looked amused.

"Something along those lines," he said nonchalantly, sniffing.

"What about my camera?" Rose said, tongue poking out of her teeth in her smile.

"You can keep that. I would have let you keep the camcorder as well if you had let me keep Arthur," he said, looking slightly put out.

"Oh, for the love of God, give it up about Arthur! He's a horse, horses can't live on the TARDIS!" she said, before wincing and turned around to see if she'd awoken Martha; the woman in question just snored on.

"Horses could so live in the TARDIS," the Doctor whispered loudly, so loud it was almost a stage whisper. "You didn't want all the pet food being used, that was your problem. Instead you wasted it on Mickey-the-Idiot."

"One, you bet me a tenner to feed that to Mickey and two, don't go comparing them … oh, my god, Mickey!" Rose said, bringing both hands to her mouth in a gasp. "He just wandered off and we left him! Oh, he'll think we're really awful now."

The Doctor huffed. "Don't go worry about Our Lord Mickey. He'll coming running as soon as he hears the TARDIS, he always does. We'll go back and try and make it right. Maybe introduce him to Martha. They could keep each other company on Earth," the Doctor said, looking proud of his (if he does say so himself) stupendous idea.

"Yeah. He can say 'I've met Madame de Pompadour' and she can say 'I've met Shakespeare'. Like me and Sarah-Jane; who's met the most monsters?"

"I can't believe we met Shakespeare, though. That is something to tell your mother," the Doctor said, as Rose beamed.

"I know! I had to study _Love's Labour's Lost_ in school, it was so boring, but seeing it live made it so much easier to understand, somehow," she mused. "Wait, was the TARDIS translating?"

"Not exactly. She may have made certain words easier for us to understand; like archaic sayings they said that we wouldn't even know what they meant. But I think it was just your ape brain actually working for once that let you understand." His comment was met with the sharp kick in the shin.

Someone screamed, and it wasn't the Doctor.

(He had let out an unmanly yelp, though.)

The Doctor and Rose were out the door before it had ended; Martha had awoken, mumbling 'whazzat?' before stumbling out the bed, ten steps behind them.

Dolly Bailey was lying on the ground, evidently dead. "She died of fright!" Martha said, coming to her senses on sight of the dead body and starting checking Dolly with the Doctor. Rose was over at the window, staring at the figure which was rapidly turning into a black dot.

"What is it, Rose? What did you see?" the Doctor said, rushing over to her.

"A witch," she said bluntly, looking at him with slight fear.

"Are you sure?" he said, although his eyes told her he knew the answer. He truly believed her.

"Totally," she said, "She was cackling and everything. Straight out of _Macbeth_," she said, dropping her voice so only the Doctor could hear the last part.

"Witchcraft … I think that's what's causing the deaths," he said, as Martha was still trying to revive Dolly behind them.

"Witchcraft? As in spells or as in voodoo?" Rose said sarcastically, but the Doctor stared at her, then starting beaming like a loon.

"Are you smiling because I made a fool of myself, or because I got something right?" Rose said, smirking. She didn't mind either way.

"Because you're a genius," he said, giving her a small kiss before speaking again. "Voodoo. Of course! A voodoo doll and a bucket of water - dry land drowning!"

"So the witch dunked the Linley doll in water and it killed the real Linley?" Rose said, dumbfounded.

The Doctor nodded. "I think so."

"Wow, that's some powerful magic," she said, looking a little bit fearful as she gazed into the night.

* * *

After visiting the architect, Peter Streete and realising the creatures that were masquerading as witches were actually Carrionites, the Doctor, Rose, Martha and Shakespeare were back in the latter's room discussing the recent events. Peter had also died, bringing the tally of the dead up to three, which was too high a number for the Doctor's liking; or for anyone's liking, really.

"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe," the Doctor said, pacing up and down as he ran a hand through his hair. Rose sat on the desk, swinging her legs back and forth, one hand resting on her stomach, while Martha leant against a bureau on the other side of the small room. Shakespeare was … doing whatever Shakespeare does. "No-one was really sure if they were real or just legend."

"I'm going for real," Shakespeare said, and earned a nod from Martha. Shakespeare brightened; he'd taken quite a shine to Martha, and had done to Rose, before the Doctor made it very clear that Shakespeare could have Martha all he liked, but Rose was his. He hadn't made a move since, because even Shakespeare knew the Doctor could probably be a dangerous man when riled.

"What do they want, Doctor? Invasion like the Daleks, or the planet itself like the Slitheen? They said there was a whole race," Rose said, remembering the Carrionites word's.

"They want a new empire on Earth," he said, leaning against the desk Rose was perched on and turned his head slightly to see her. "A world of bones and blood and witchcraft," he spat, almost bursting the 'b's.

"But how will they get that? There is only three of them against what, six billion? Or something," Martha said.

"I'm looking at the man with the words."

The Doctor, Martha and Rose all turned to Shakespeare.

He looked back, dumbfounded. "But I've done nothing."

"Hold on; what were you doing last night, when that Carrionite I saw was in the room?" Rose asked.

"Finishing the play," he replied, as if this was the most obvious answer ever to a question.

"What happens on the last page?" the Doctor asked, his eyes going wide. Rose smirked inwardly; this meant his fantastic brain had clicked everything together and more likely than not had come to the right conclusion. Now all that was left was for their slower, human brains (because Rose was part-Time Lord physically, not mentally) to catch up with his. Rose didn't think it would take a brilliant mind like Shakespeare's, whose mind only paled in comparison to the Doctor's, to long to work it out.

"The boys get the girls, they all have bit of a dance," Shakespeare replied; Rose and Martha shared a look. Pity they probably wouldn't get to see it. "It's all as funny and thought-provoking as usual ..." he trailed off, looking down. When he looked up again, his eyes were also wide in enlightenment, and Rose knew he'd realised whatever the Doctor had realised ten seconds ago. "Except those last few lines. Funny thing is … I don't actually remember writing them."

"They used you," the Doctor said, pushing off the desk and walking over to Shakespeare. "They gave you the final words. Likea spell, like a code._ 'Love's Labours Won'_ — it's a weapon! The right combination of words, spoken at the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing!" he said, turning back to Rose before whirling around and facing Shakespeare again. "And yes, you can have that." Everyone laughed, despite the solemn atmosphere.

* * *

"Stop the play! Yeah, I think that's what I said, _stop the play_!" the Doctor yelled, as they rushed from All Hallows Street (after a rather unfriendly encounter with the youngest Carrionite) to the Globe only to find Shakespeare semi-concious amongst the hay rubbing his head. After a quick rekkie, it was clear he was at the side of the stage and the play was still running.

"I hit my head," Shakespeare said, pointing to his head. Clearly the Doctor did not know where Shakespeare's head was.

The Doctor looked as if he was about to rip Shakespeare's head _off. _A few deep breaths and he was calm, but still was about to let rip. "Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald," he said, before a scream echoed from the stage. "And I think that's our cue!" he said, grabbing Rose's hand and bursting through the doors; Martha did the same with Shakespeare.

The Carrionites were clearly winning, as the whole Globe was overcome with red light and lightening. Thunder rumbled somewhere. "So begins the Millennium of Blood!" they called, holding some sort of crystal ball up into the sky. They began to cackle, and the remaining Carrionites were freed from the ball and flew around the Globe. The audience were screaming, clearly terrified.

"Come on, Will! History needs you!" the Doctor grabbed Shakespeare and pulled him forward; there was a strong wind that begged to push them back, but the four held firm.

"But what can I do?"

"Reverse it, goddamnit!" Rose said impatiently, struggling not to fall backwards into the stage wall. She braced herself against it, one hand over her stomach and the other in Martha's, trying to anchor herself.

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"The shape of the Globe gives the words power, but you're the wordsmith!" the Doctor yelled above the din of cackling Carrionites, screaming showgoers and the inpossibly strong wind. "The one true genius! The only man clever enough to do it!"

"But what words? I have none ready!"

The Doctor huffed. "You're William Shakespeare!" he said, hitting him lightly on the chest.

"But these … Carrionite phrases, they need such … precision!"

"Trust yourself. When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they? Like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm — words that last forever! That's what you do, Will! You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!" the Doctor said, before standing back beside Rose, who quickly clasped his hand not only for comfort but also for support; she was quickly getting tired struggling against the gale.

"Close up this den of hateful, dire decay! Decomposition of your witches' plot! You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!" Shakespeare started, and with a glance upwards Rose smiled; the Carrionites were screaming. "Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points … "

He looked to the Doctor. The Doctor thought for a moment, only a few seconds at the most. "7-6-1-3-9-0!"

"7-6-1-3-9-0!" Shakespeare repeated, throwing a hand towards the Carrionites. "And banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee … " Again, he seemed to be lost for words. He looked to the Doctor, who looked to Rose, who looked to Martha.

"Expelliarmus!" Martha yelled, and Rose beamed. The Doctor was grinning widely too.

"Expelliarmus!" Rose yelled, glee lighting her features.

"Expelliarmus!" the Doctor bellowed back to Shakespeare.

"Expelliarmus!" Shakespeare shouted the word, and the Carrionites screamed long and loud, high-pitched wailing filling the Globe.

"Good old JK!" the Doctor added, and Rose whooped loudly as paper started flying around everywhere.

"_Love's Labour's Won_?" Rose asked.

"_Love's Labour's Won_," the Doctor confirmed, as it all went up with the Carrionites; back to deep dark space where they belonged.

* * *

The TARDIS door closed with a snap, the arrow making a _twang_ sound as it embedded itself into the door. It materialised away, the pilot putting the ship into the Vortex.

All three occupants were silent.

One, the oldest female, coughed after about five minutes of staring at the glowing rotor, moving up and and down in tandem. She didn't move her eyes from the rotor. "Was that Queen Elizabeth I?"

"Yep," the male said, also keeping his eyes glued to the same spot.

"And she tried to shoot us?" the youngest female added, disbelief evident in her tone.

"With a bow and arrow," the Doctor confirmed.

Rose was the first one to tear her eyes away from the green glow, and instead snapped onto the Doctor's figure. "I can't believe she tried to shoot us."

"Ah," he said, now looking at her. "At least we get to meet Queen Elizabeth I!"

Rose matched his exuberance. "I know! And we manage, somehow, to piss her off."

"Maybe we ask her, politely if I do so add, if she was a werewolf."

Rose nodded. "Mental note made to ask her."

Martha snapped out of her trance. "Wait, don't you _not_ want to ask her?"

"No, we want to ask her. Because it's an event. We obviously are her 'sworn enemies'," Rose said, making air quotes with her first two fingers. "And timelines and stuff … we have to stick to them or the universe will implode, according to him. A big ball of Timey wimey stuff." Him, confirmed by a throw of a thumb over her shoulder, indicted to the Doctor.

Who, incidentally, was looking at Rose with such pride that Martha was scared that he'd initiate a snogging session. Again.

Martha coughed, although she was actually coughing rather than clearing her throat. Rose smiled, and rubbed her back, trying to ease her coughs. "Anyone for tea?"

"Thought you'd never ask," the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together. "And Martha, an impromptu tour of the TARDIS!"

"Do you get that a lot?" Martha asked, as she and Rose walked leisurely to the kitchen; the Doctor had bounded on ahead, gibbering nonsense about the kettle and short-circulating the heltic regulator. Or something like that.

"Not really," Rose said, pointing to the living room. "Sometimes. Like, odd times. Once, someone came up to me, thanking me profusely for something. I had no idea what it was. Two weeks later, met the same woman, but she didn't have a clue who I was. Like he said - big ball of timey wimey stuff. Time ain't a straight line and all that."

Martha nodded, but looked confused. She looked at Rose and laughed, her female friend joining in. "Right. I understood nothing of that."

Rose stopped outside a room; judging from the whistling coming within it (Britney Spears' _'Hit Me Baby Once More Time' _if Martha's ears were in prime condition), it was the kitchen. "If I'm honest," Rose said, leaning towards Martha as if she didn't want the Doctor to hear, "I don't either. He says it so much that it lodges itself in there!" She pointed to her brain.

Martha giggled, and pushed open the door to the sight of the Doctor, eyes closed, singing Britney Spears - Martha did know her pop music, thanks very much - and battering a spoon against the mugs, counter and cupboard alternatively in time with the music. His head was bopping along to the music, and his singing really was loud. And bad. Dreadfully off-key, as a matter of fact. And then he started dancing, wiggling his bum in time with his singing. Needless to say, his dancing was like your dad's dancing after a one or ten drinks at a family wedding that everyone laughs at on the camcorder a week later. Embarrassing for him, cringe-worthy for everyone.

Rose had her bottom lip trapped in between her teeth, in a vain attempt to stifle the laugh; Martha had her fist wedged in her mouth. Rose, apparently unable to take the sight anymore, released her bottom lip and her laughter was let out in a bark, before collapsing in hysterics. That set Martha off, and soon they were both hugging each other, leaning against the door.

The Doctor had turned around swiftly at Rose's bark, his cheeks the name colour as Rose's name, and was now looking at the two as if they really didn't have to do this. It wasn't necessary, any other time would do to laugh at his expense.

"T-Tea ready?" Rose said, after a good few minutes. She was struggling to catch her breath, gasping for air in between the streaks of tears streaming down her face. Thank God for waterproof mascara.

"Yes," he said promptly, putting three cups of tea down on the table, leaving the sugar and milk out for Martha's benefit. He knew what Rose liked in her tea so he would be able to do it blindfolded if he ever felt the desire to.

Martha pulled out a seat, dunking a sugar and a lot of milk into her tea before stirring it thoughtfully. Taking a sip, she asked, "Did Shakespeare just recite _'Shall I Compare Thee'_ to me?"

The Doctor, who thankfully had swallowed his sip of tea, nodded and laughed. "I don't think he just recited it, Martha … I think he made it for you. Sonnet 18."

Martha spluttered. "No … no he did not!"

"Your his Dark Lady," the Doctor said, quite matter-of-factly, teasing her.

"That has got to be _the_ most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Martha replied, accepting the offer of a chocolate biscuit and dunked it into her tea.

Rose, meanwhile, had passed on chocolate biscuits and had instead grabbed a bag-of-five doughnuts (jam, of course) and had opened the bag and bit into one before she'd even sat down.

"Hungry, Rose?" Martha said, gesturing to the doughnuts.

"Craving," Rose replied through a mouthful of jam, sugar coating her lips before she swiped them clean with a quick dart of her tongue.

The Doctor looked on, amused. "I know, why don't you tell Martha how you got the doughnuts, Rose? I'm sure she's in the mood for a lau- blimey, I was only suggesting!" the Doctor said, rubbing his shin where he was sure a bruise was appearing after Rose had kicked him with her perfect aim. Or at least it was perfect when it came to violence towards him, anyway.

"There's a story there," Martha said.

"Okay, so I pushed a fat fifty-year-old woman to the ground to get them, so what? Makes them taste better," Rose huffed, as Martha gasped.

"You did not!" was her response, gaping at the younger woman.

"She did. It was hilarious," the Doctor said, leaning away with a shout as Rose aimed another kick at him. "Okay, new moral: don't get in the way of pregnant women when they're craving something."

"I think it's more: don't get in the way of any woman when she's craving something."

"Exactly, Martha," Rose said in agreement, raising her mug to Martha, who responded with a _clink_ from her mug.

"I guess … " the Doctor said aloud, and two heads whipped towards him.

"That Newton's Three Laws of Motion are incorrect? Again?" Rose asked, amused. Earlier, the Doctor had proclaimed that he believed that Newton was incorrect.

"No," he said, sticking his tongue out at her, "I was thinking, I offered you one trip, Martha, to say thanks. But … how about one trip in the past and one trip into the future? It's still technically one trip, just in each direction."

"Oh, my God … 'kay! The future? Do we all have like silver jumpsuits and hoverboards and stuff?" Martha asked, face alight at the prospect of another trip.

Rose looked equally as excited to have a friend on board. "I've not seen any silver jumpsuits in the future unless your a cyberman … oh, we'll have to find you a room to stay the night in, c'mon, let's see if the TARDIS has a spare … well, obviously she will, but we'll have to find it first … " Rose pulled a enthusastic Martha out of the kitchen and into the corridor, blabbing all the way about the future, leaving the Doctor alone in the kitchen with three lukewarm teas, realising that he now had not one woman on board, but two. And one was pregnant.

What had he just gotten himself into?

* * *


	24. The Marmalade Ban of 2009

**The Marmalade Ban of 2009**

**okay guys, i am MAJORLY sorry about the lack of updates recently. with illness, summer holidays  
and start-of-uni chaos, there simply hasn't been any time for writing. spesh since i sorta hit writer's  
block as well, for the first time in a long time. but here it is, the start of gridlock. hope you guys  
enjoy it, and remember to keep hitting me reviews with baby names, still no closer to deciding!!**

* * *

The Doctor sat up in Rose's bed - actually, it was now _their_ bed - watching her get ready for the night, flitting in and out of bathrooms, grabbing nightclothes and dumping the ones she'd worn this morning on the floor sloppily. They added to the décor, she would argue if he brought it up, and he had to agree. She had made the place very messy, with mugs, make-up, clothes and magazines littering the floor and every available surface. Putting the clothes away would seem like asking J.K Rowling to sign _Lord of the Rings. _At a book signing for _Harry Potter_. In other words, inappropriate.

"I have an idea," he announced, and Rose poked her head around the door to the bathroom, which was en-suite to their bedroom. God, she took a long time to get ready, even when they were just going to sleep.

"What?" she mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste, before she raised her index finger, turned and spat it out in the sink and washed her mouth. "What is your idea?" she asked again, this time much more clearly. She walked back to the bedroom, and plonked herself down on the bed. She shivered; she was only wearing a tank top and some pyjama bottoms, and she felt rather cold.

"New Earth," the Doctor said, and Rose nodded.

"What about New Earth?" she said, motioning with her hands that he should elaborate.

"We should take Martha to New Earth. Let her meet the_ lovely _cat people."

Rose beamed so brightly the Doctor swore that her mouth should have split in two; she reached up and kissed his right cheek. "I think that's a perfect idea," she said, before burrowing under the covers so only her eyes were visible above the duvet. Much warmer. "As long as there isn't any more Cassandra's running around." her voice was muffled from the duvet, but was loud enough that the Doctor heard her.

He looked down at her fondly, ruffling the small patch of blonde-brown hair (well, she did need to keep on top of her roots, and zooming around the universe made finding the time to dye your hair near impossible) before sliding down so he was lying on the bed, eyes level with Rose's. "Please. I do not need you and Martha possessed. You alone, possessed, is a dangerous weapon, let me tell you," he said, reaching up and pressing a kiss to the only slice of Rose's skin he could see, which was her forehead.

"Dangerous? Me? Like what? I can barely remember, being possessed and all," Rose said, her curiosity winning over the low temperature as she pulled the duvet back slightly, revealing her bare shoulders.

"You had that spray stuff. Knocked me unconscious. And then you snogged me … "

"Did I?" Rose said nonchalantly, looking at her fingernails.

The Doctor frowned, before his eyes widened. "Did you … ?" he said, trailing off. Rose looked up at him, her face the picture of innocence.

"Might've," Rose said, and the Doctor raised one eyebrow at her. Rose sighed. "Well, I thought I was dying, wasn't I? What would you think if you were being possessed? Actually, it was more like drifting in and out of conciousness, really … but I sorta jolted back for a moment, and you were there, looking at me, so I just thought 'damn it, if this is my last moment then I better live it', y'know?" she said, her cheeks turning the colour of her namesake.

The Doctor laughed. "Did you ever think about telling me this earlier?"

Rose responded by slugging him on the arm; he winced, rubbing the spot. Although the punches weren't sore, they always managed to hit the same spot. He stuck his tongue out her childishly, before turning around so his back was facing her, acting upset that, firstly, she'd snogged him and then said it was Cassandra (he knew that their situation now was very different from when they had gone to New Earth, but he refused to let that stand as an excuse) and secondly, then proceeded to punch him for something which was no fault of his own.

"Oi," Rose said, poking him in the back; he jerked away from her hand, but other than that he never made any movement to say he acknowledged her. Rose sighed. "I thought it was this one," she pointed her stomach, "that was supposed to be having tantrums, not you?" she posed it as a question, but did not get any answer. "Fine," she huffed, after poking him in the back a few more times and still nothing. She turned away, her back facing his back.

She only had to wait less than ten seconds until she heard him shifting behind her, before she felt him kiss her bare shoulder and his left arm wrap around her stomach.

"Could you actually ever stay mad at me?" Rose said, cuddling into him so her back was against his chest, her head under his chin.

He kissed her shoulder again, and she felt him smile against her skin. "I wasn't mad at you. I never could be. Unless, oh, I dunno ... you say that you'll never make me a cup of tea ever again or ban me from buying marmalade."

Rose grinned, although he couldn't see it, and turned around in his embrace until she was staring into his chocolate eyes. She smiled. "You can never buy marmalade again," she breathed, before he smiled, catching her lips in a passionate kiss.

The TARDIS quickly made Martha's bedroom door soundproof.

* * *

Martha, meanwhile, was sitting on the bed in the room Rose had shown her to - it wasn't her room, she was only staying the night - thinking about her life.

Quite an interesting topic, it happens to be, one Martha Jones' life. Well, if she was being honest, it was a boring topic until around two nights previously. She'd lived her life as normal, gone to school, got her GCSE's, got straight A's in A-Level, went off to medical school, which is where things got interesting.

She met the mysterious couple on what was supposed to be a routine check-up on the patients and the chance for Stoker to give the students a impromptu quiz. The two were weird from the off, with the man talking about meeting Benjamin Franklin and his partner acting as if he was telling them about his friend Ben.

Then they went to the moon and the twosome saved the world. They took Martha to 1599 and they saved the world there, too. Is that what they did, as jobs? Saved the world? They must be on a huge salary if they do it for the government, Martha decided.

She coughed; her throat was awfully dry. As if by magic, a glass of water appeared on the bedside table. It was cool to the touch, the glass slightly frosted; it looked and felt like it had just been removed from a fridge. Martha glanced up at the ceiling. Earlier, while showing Martha to her room, Rose had called the ship many things - magical, wonderful, telepathic. She was sure of the last one. Martha had done a double take, but Rose didn't even blink.

Martha gulped at the water gratefully, downing the whole glass in three gulps. She winced at the coolness but was also relieved as her throat was soothed.

She wanted to go and explore. Rose had said the ship was massive - and once you got past the small blue box part, it wasn't hard to believe. She would have loved to have gone exploring this colossal ship, but her body was begging for sleep, and she was using up all her energy just keeping her eyes open. It had been straight to 1599's England after they picked her up from the pub, the same day as the hospital drama - she hadn't had any time to recover from the oxygen deprivation or the sheer madness of the day. She picked up the pyjamas Rose had kindly lent her, changed quickly, and slid under the covers, which were surprisingly warm for a hardly-ever-used spare bed, and was asleep within seconds.

* * *

Blinking against the darkness, the Doctor realised he'd fallen asleep, lulled into unconsciousness by the warmth of Rose's body next to his and the rhythm of her single heart beating in time with his two. His eyes flickered open, blinking once, twice, three times against the dark, hanging over them like a thick blanket.

The warmth on his right told him Rose was still in bed, light snores coming from her direction.

A quick glance at the clock told him it was nearly seven am. He couldn't believe he'd slept quite that long - he'd obviously been overdue a sleep, or maybe it was the human part of him coming out, but he'd found he'd been getting more tired easily and needed sleep a lot more often than he was used to.

He sat up, rubbing the last ting of sleep from his eyes, noticing a smell. He needed a shower, desperately, he still stank of 1599. Not exactly a nice smell to smell of. Really, he'd rather smell of any other year than 1599. Maybe not 1066, though.

He made to get up out of bed, before leaning over and kissing Rose's shoulder; she responded only by snuggling deeper into the duvet, making it clear that she wasn't getting up anytime soon.

The shower helped, relaxing him and getting that awful stench out.

He changed quickly back into his well-worn suit, pulling on his converse before padding softly out of the room, closing the door with a barely-audible click. He wandered down the hall to the kitchen, noticing there was already a light shining from under the door.

It took him a few moments filled with panic to remember that they'd invited Martha on board last night. He smiled, pushing open the door to Martha's slightly wide eyes and the aroma of coffee hanging in the air.

"Morning," he said, taking in Martha's slightly rumpled but glamorous appearance at seven in the morning - she was wearing the party clothes she had came in last night, having no time to pick up any others.

"Morning," Martha replied softly, voice slightly hoarse with sleep. "I hope you don't mind I made myself some coffee." She gestured to her half-full mug.

"Not at all," the Doctor said, boiling the kettle and placing a teabag in the mug. He noticed Martha's inquiring look.

"There's coffee in the pot," she said, nodding to it.

He pointed to the teabag. "I don't like coffee," he said, filling up the mug with the steaming water. He put two slices of bread in the toaster and turned to Martha. "Want some?"

"Please."

They waited in silence until the toast popped. The Doctor put it on a clean plate and slid it into the centre of the table, fishing out a jar of marmalade from the cupboard. Martha was slathering butter on her toast by the time he sat down.

"The butter isn't going anywhere, y'know," he said, amused.

"Haha," Martha said, sarcasm dripping as much as could be at seven am. "I like a lot of butter on toast." She raised her eyebrow at the end of the statement.

They ate in silence for moment, the only sound the crunch of toast and the occasional sip of tea or coffee.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Martha's slightly hesitant voice threw the Doctor off guard for a moment. For the whole day-and-a half - maybe two days - he'd known her, she'd always been firm in her questions. Never had he heard her so unsure about her voice or what she was saying.

"Go ahead," he said, leaning back in his chair and bracing himself. She had an inquisitive mind, not unlike Rose's, but Rose was quite gentle with her probing, while Martha had a slightly blunt nature. He really hoped she wasn't, but he rather expected her to, going to ask him something to do with Gallifrey.

"How did you and Rose meet?"

He breathed an internal sigh of relief. He wasn't ready to tell Martha about Gallifrey yet. He smiled at Martha, who gave a small smile back, still unsure as to whether or not he would answer the question.

He took a deep breath as if to start a story that lasted several years. "It was about three years ago, now, wait … three years, two months, eight days, five and a half hours, and thirteen minutes. I won't count the seconds," he laughed, as Martha as giggled hesitantly, still a little weirded out by his exact timekeeping.

"We met in the shop she worked it. It was a Tuesday," he continued, Martha listening raptly. "The shop was being taken over by shop window dummies. Rose got cornered by one or ten, and I had to go in and save her - and I did it with just one word."

"How very macho."

"Thank you! At least one person seems to think so," the Doctor said, playing on Martha's sarcasm. "And then I blew her work up."

Martha's jaw dropped. "You blew her work up?"

"Yeah."

"You. Blew. Her. Work. Up?!"

"Yes!" The Doctor said, exasperated. "She worked in Henricks."

"No!" Martha looked even more shocked. "You were behind Henricks? My sister Tish was in Henricks the day it blew up. Just got out, as well, before it went up in flames! They said it was arson, as well … but you? Really?"

"Him. Really."

The new, slightly scratchy voice made both the Doctor and Martha's heads turn to the door, where Rose was standing, grinning at the tale.

"I have to say, you don't seem the type to blow things up," Martha said, taking a sip of coffee as Rose poured herself a a decaf one, having had a ten minute lecture by the Doctor then a fifteen minute one by her mother about the effects of caffeine on the baby. The lectures, although boring, were making a strong and valid point so Rose was going decaf for the next few months.

"Excuse me, new man. Was back then," the Doctor argued, sticking his tongue out childishly.

Rose repeated the action back to him as she sat down beside him, swiping a slice of jammy toast from his plate, the Doctor letting out an indignant "Oi!" at the toast thief.

"What do you mean 'new man?'" Martha said, one dark eyebrow raised.

"He's changed a lot over the past three years. We call him a 'new man' because he's so different from when I first met him," Rose lied smoothly, the Doctor nodding along but silently impressed with Rose's quick lying. Rose hated lying to Martha - she hated lying full stop - but Martha wasn't quite ready to know all the truths about their life yet. She was a flying visitor, two stops and then home again. As much as Rose had become attached to Martha, it was the best thing for them. Better with two.

"Oh, really?" Martha said, slightly distant. She couldn't imagine the Doctor being anything but the bouncy, energetic man she knew.

"Oh, yeah. Think 'emo'," Rose said, raising her eyebrows. Martha responded with her eyebrows raised and soon the two girls were in fits.

"Y'know, I really hope the baby is a boy. Since Jack left we really need a masculine influence around here. Testosterone, that is what this place needs, a good dose of testosterone. I'm been ganged up upon. You and Sarah-Jane, you and Donna, and now you two."

His comments were drowned out by the laughter, not even heard by the two females.

* * *

"Right-o. I have the perfect place to take you, Martha Jones," the Doctor said, dancing around the console. Martha and Rose had gone and washed up after breakfast, Rose wearing a simple pink top and jeans, while Martha still had the jeans on from three nights ago but had borrowed a purple top of Rose's to wear with her leather jacket.

Martha looked positively delighted.

"It's pretty amazing," Rose said, beaming. "We've been before."

"Really? What's it like?"

Rose beamed at Martha's eagerness. "Oh, no, you'll just have to wait and see." She said, wagging her finger as the Doctor pressed his buttons and turned his levers, throwing all the occupants to the floor, as usual.

"Everyone in one piece?" the Doctor called.

"Yeah," Martha said, faintly as she used a support strut to pull herself up.

"I'm here," Rose said, using the Doctor to hoist herself up and dusted herself off before looking at the doors.

"Yo go," Rose said, nodding to Martha, who practically squealed with excitement as she ran to the doors.

"Martha Jones, I give you, New Earth!" the Doctor said triumphantly as Martha walked out the TARDIS doors . . .

. . . and into the pouring rain.


	25. Does That Cat Have An Irish Accent?

**Does That Cat Have An Irish Accent?**

**Hello. 'Tis me. Right, okay, let's get this clear. I was not intending to make this  
a series three with Rose series. It has developed into this, though, even though I didn't intend for it to happen.  
This like that happen when you are writing. It will stop being series three at some point _soon_, when Rose has the baby.  
It may or may not go back to series three once she has the baby, simply because  
I really really want to do Blink with Rose. I may do some and not others. Butyeah … some people have been PMing me saying  
'you said it wasn't a series three with Rose' and the like and I just wanted it to be cleared up.  
****Rant over =) Really hope you enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

The first words out of Rose's mouth were pretty predictable, on many accounts.

"Why the hell do you always take us places where it rains?"

Rose had a scowl on her face as she buried her face deeper into the neck of her jumper to try and keep the rain from battering her face, not to mention her face was quickly going numb with the cold. Martha had zipped her leather jacket right up to her neck, her arms crossed around her chest, a deep line in her forehead as she struggled to see through the sheets of rain. The Doctor seemed indifferent to the cold.

"Will this help?" he asked cheerfully, waving the bit of metal around. Rose just shook her head in mirth, while Martha looked at him with an expression which clearly told him she thought he was mental. He struggled to get it back into the TARDIS, the doors not giving enough room for manoeuvre with metal poles.

"Anyway! A little bit of rain never hurt anyone! C'mon, let's get under cover before you look like drowned rats!" he said, grabbing Rose's hand and tugging her along the alleyway where they had parked.

"Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth! Second hope of mankind! Fifty thousand light years from your old world, Martha, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically it's the fifteenth New York from the original," the Doctor and Rose shared a smile, "So it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. One of the most dazzling cities ever built."

"Time Lord version of dazzling, is it?" Martha said, rolling her eyes. "Loving the décor," she added, as they ran past overflowing bins and dirty streets. Rose kept quiet, as it wasn't all that different from parts of London where she had grown up. Obviously Martha was from a wealthier family, she almost seemed to look down on the dirt on the street with disgust.

"Same old Earth to me, on a Wednesday afternoon," Rose said.

"Looks like it." The Doctor's reply was short as he took in his surroundings.

"What happened to the New Earth we went to, Doctor?" Rose said, quietly.

"Hold on, what's that?" the Doctor asked the two women, pointing to what looked like a dead screen embedded in the wall. He ran over and pointed the sonic at it, the screen coming alive and into focus. "Let's have a look," he said, as he pounded the wall, the screen sharpening.

A woman - Sally Calypso, apparently - was giving a traffic report. The view switched from her to the same place Rose and the Doctor had went last time, showing the hill and the vehicles zooming overhead.

"Ah, that's more like it! That's where we went last time, wasn't it, Rose? This must be the lower levels, like some kind of under city," he trailed off, turning away from the screen to have a closer look at his surroundings.

Martha had a disgusted look on her face. "You brought me to the slums?" she said, indignantly and with disgust. Rose's opinion of Martha dropped slightly. She'd been brought up in an area that wasn't all that different to here, or at least what she could see of it - and Rose didn't like anyone criticizing where she'd been raised, some had called it the slums. Rose could imagine lots of worse places that could be defined as slums, not this place. This was just … the not-so-pleasant area of town. Rose could imagine, just from the way Martha talked and dressed and her good grades, Martha living in a nice four bedroomed semi-detached house with a large garden and garage and all the things Rose didn't have as a child.

The Doctor turned to Martha. "Much more interesting! It's all cocktails and glitter up there! This, this is the real city!" he said, and Rose beamed at him.

"Yeah - they are all stuck-ups up there." Rose pointed upwards, as if the city was literally one floor above them.

"You guys would enjoy anything, would you?" Martha's voice was slightly disbelieving.

"That's us! And the rain's stopping! Better and better … " he trailed off, looking around at the stalls. There was scrabbling coming from the stalls.

"What is going on?" Rose said, turning around as well, as a man flipped open the top of a large green box to reveal a vendor's cart. He was smiling away happily, and started shouting to them. Others around them were beginning to do the same.

"Oh! You should have said. How long you been there? Happy! You want Happy!"

"Customers! Customers! We've got customers!"

"We're in business! Mother, open up the Mellow, and the Read!"

"Happy, Happy, lovely happy Happy!

"Anger! Buy some Anger!"

"Get some Mellow, makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long!"

"Younger, them. They'll rip you off. Do you want some happy?"

They all were shouting at once, their voices a blur. The Doctor had deep frown on his forehead.

"No thanks," he said, quietly. Martha turned to him, her expression shocked.

"Are they selling drugs?" she asked, bluntly.

"I think they are selling moods," he replied, his tone dark.

"Same thing, isn't it?"

While the trio had been alone for a while, a woman had also entered the fray. She looked bedraggled and had dark circles under her eyes. Rose thought she needed a good wash, a cup of tea and a full night's sleep.

The woman walked with intent towards one of the stalls.

"I want to buy Forget," she said, talking to one of the vendors.

"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength?"

"My parents went on the motorway," she said, as if this was a valid explanation. Apparently, it was.

"I'm sorry love," the vendor said, before withdrawing a small patch. "Try this - Forget 43. That's twopence."

The woman handed over the money to the vendor and reached up to apply the patch, but the Doctor was faster.

"Sorry - but wait a minute, what happened to your parents?"

"They drove off." Her reply was stiff.

"They might drive back," the Doctor reasoned, but the woman shook her head.

"Everyone goes to the motorway in the end. I've lost them."

Rose frowned. "But they can't have gone far, it's only the motorway. You can find them," she said, soothingly, trying to make the woman see sense. The woman just shrugged, and reached up the place the patch on her neck.

"No, no, don't!" the Doctor said, but he was too late; the woman had already stuck the patch on, and the effect was immediate. Her whole face seemed to glaze over, and she seemed serene almost, as if everything was perfect.

After a moment or two talking to her, in which she seemed to know nothing of her parents going to the motorway or the motorway at all, the Doctor turned to Rose and Martha, who both had slightly disgusted looks on their faces.

"So is that what the human race is like five billion years in the future. Off their heads on chemicals?" Martha said, disgust evident on her face. Unbeknown to her or Rose, who was standing beside her, two figures had emerged from the shadows. The taller one made to grab Rose, who was roughly pulled away from the figure by the Doctor. The taller one came into the light, showing he was a man of average height, settled for Martha instead, as the smaller one - a woman - shoved a gun in the Doctor's face, who was still holding Rose tightly to his side.

Martha was screaming and shouting, doing her very best to loosen her captor's hold on her. Unfortunately he was stronger, managing to keep her steady. They were quick as they dragged Martha off into an alleyway, the Doctor and Rose following them.

"I'm sorry, really sorry," the man who was holding Martha said. "We just need three, that's all! We just need three!"

"No, let her go!" Rose screamed, running after them as best she could with her hand in the Doctor's vice-like grip and a eight-month-along pregnancy bump. Fortunately her new Time Lady genes meant that she could run without causing herself or the baby any harm.

"I'm warning you, let her go! Whatever you want, we can help, the both of us," he gestured to himself and Rose, "We can help! But first you've got to let her go!"

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," the woman said, reached a large green door. The three passed through it, slamming it behind them just as the Doctor and Rose were pulling up.

"Damn it!" the Doctor said, fishing around in his jacket pocket for the sonic screwdriver, as Rose was wrestling with the heavy door to no avail.

"Finally," he said, pulling it out and running it up and down against the lock, a satisfying click audible as the door unlocked. But he just wasn't quick enough; a car, with Martha in it, was hovering before pulling away at the sight of the two time travellers.

"MARTHAAAAAAA!" they screamed together, but it was useless; their friend had been taken.

* * *

"Why?" the Doctor asked Rose, or at least Rose hoped he was asking her; the alleyway was deserted except from them. First sign of madness, talking to yourself. Or was that looking for hairs on your palm?

"Well I don't know!" Rose said, wondering how on Earth the Doctor expected her to know why they had taken Martha. "Maybe one of those guys would know," she added, pointing to one of the now-closed stalls.

The Doctor banged on a door-flap with his fist, impatience ringing in every thud. The flap opened, and the woman behind it's grumpy face vanished, replaced by a smile.

"Knew you two would be back," she said, winking. "Do you want some happy happy?"

Rose was getting annoyed. "Oi! These people took our friend and we want her back! Where did they take her?"

"They've taken her to the motorway," a man said as he too opened his door-flap, curious to what was going on, although he said his statement in a somewhat bored tone.

"Looked like carjackers to me," the woman agreed, nodding her head. "I'd give up now, if I were you. You won't see her again."

Another vendor opened up and joined in the conversation. The Doctor and Rose's heads whipped around to look. "Used to be thriving, this place. So packed you couldn't move. But they all go the motorway in the end."

The Doctor frowned. "But he kept saying something about three, 'we need three'. What did they mean by three?"

"Oh, that's the car-sharing policy, to save fuel," the first woman said. "You get special access if you are carrying three adults."

The Doctor looked at Rose, who knew immediately what he was thinking; she looked straight into his eyes and nodded once, sharply.

The Doctor turned to the vendors. "The motorway - how do we get there?"

"Straight down the alley, turn left, you can't miss it," the man said, watching with a curious look at the two strangers who had gone without missing a beat. He bit his lip and raised his eyebrows at his colleague, who only shrugged in response.

* * *

The green door was pretty hard to miss, Rose admitted, much to the fact that it had 'MOTORWAY ACCESS' written across it in bold script.

"I guess this is it, then," the Doctor said, and Rose looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Was meant to be a joke," he added, trailing off. "Apparently no-one finds me funny anymore ..."

"You can be funny when we've found Martha, how about that?" Rose said, snapping a little; her pregnancy was making her quite impatient.

The Doctor nodded, sonicking the door open. They stepped out onto the platform and the effect was immediate; Rose's lungs felt like they were being pressed in a vice, due the lack of oxygen. Even the Doctor was coughing, but Rose was close to coughing up at least one of her lungs.

The reason why was clear; in front of the couple were a few thousand cars, all with jet-black, opaque exhaust fumes spewing out of them. It was the worst traffic jam Rose had ever seen. Maybe all those who complain about traffic jams on the M1 should come and see this, then maybe they wouldn't complain as much.

There was a car hovering in front of the couple, and the door slid open to reveal something clad in protective clothing, evidently to keep the fumes from effecting them.

"Hey! You daft little street struts! What are you doing, standing there? Either get yourselves out or get in!" it yelled, and the Doctor, coughing up a lung as well now while Rose was close to asphyxiation, guided Rose into the vehicle.

"Honestly, did you ever see the like?" the creature said, as a dark-haired woman in the car passed an oxygen mask to the Doctor; he immediately passed it to Rose, without taking a breath himself. Rose clutched onto it gratefully, taking a few moments of breaths before she pushed it to the Doctor, who only took three deep breaths before passing it to Rose. She shook her head, but didn't refuse; she knew that it was for the baby's benefit, and he knew that she would be arguing a lot more if she wasn't pregnant.

"Honestly, they were just standing there, breathing it in!" the creature continued, speaking to his companion. He was removing all the protective clothing to show he was a cat, not unlike the cat-people they had met last time on New Earth. The Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance that was missed by the cat and the woman; they were both still a bit apprehesive about cat-people after that little escapade. Then something, a thought, made it's way into Rose's mind, now able to develop now her oxygen levels were stable again … was it just her or did that cat have an Irish accent?

She felt better, much better, and she passed the oxygen mask to the Doctor, who breathed in the oxygen gratefully.

"There was this story," the cat was saying, evidently to all three of his passengers, "back in the old days. On Junction Forty-Seven I think it was, this woman stood in the exhaust fumes for a solid twenty minutes. By the time they found her, her head had swollen to fifty feet!"

Rose had a hard time not bursting into laughter, and she could see the Doctor using the oxygen mask as a cover. The cat seemed deadly serious, but the woman scoffed at him.

"You're making that up!" she said, hitting the cat on the arm, but the cat paid no attention to her. The Doctor passed the oxygen mask back to Rose, who sighed, but took it anyway.

"A fifty-foot head! Just think of it. Imagine picking that nose!" the cat said, and the Doctor was now silently laughing, but pressed his face into Rose's hair to hide it; she could feel his breath tickling her and struggled to keep it in.

"Stop it. That's disgusting," the woman said, swatting him again on the arm.

"What? Do you never pick your nose?" the cat challenged her, Rose now burying her face into the Doctor's shoulder to stop herself from laughing, but felt the Doctor's shoulder vibrate with his silent laughter.

Suddenly all joking was forgotten as the car in front moved, and the honking of horns sounded all around. "Bran, we're moving," the woman said, and 'Bran' pulled a lever before drawing it back a couple of seconds later.

"Twenty yards!" he exclaimed, seemingly delighted with this. "We're having a good day."

Rose really hoped he was joking.

'Bran' and the woman turned to the couple, who separated a little; the Doctor still kept one arm around Rose's waist and his left hand was clutched in her right. "And who might you be? Very well dressed for hitchhikers."

"Thanks," the Doctor said, nodding. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

"Medical man! Well, I'm Thomas Kincade Brannigan - you can call me Brannigan. And this is the bane of my life, the lovely Valerie."

Rose smiled. "Nice to meet you," she said, as Valerie repeated it back.

"And that's the rest of the family behind you," Brannigan said, gesturing to a curtain. The Doctor pulled it back to reveal a basket of kittens, meowing adorably.

"Aww, aren't they cute!" Rose cooed, picking up a black-and-white kitten and stroking it, the little kitty meowing and nuzzling her palm. The Doctor picked up a little black one which was nuzzling into his hand, and played with it for a moment.

Rose was feeling really maternal right now, being at around eight months pregnant (in the space of four months) and the Doctor estimated it wouldn't be long until she gave birth; he'd said 'any day, really' but that if it was anytime now then he or she would be premature. Of course, the Doctor was hesitant about Rose going off on adventures and the like, but he knew that she would be fine. Didn't stop him worrying though.

"How old are they?" the Doctor asked, stroking the kitten in his hands.

"Just two months," Valerie said, smiling.

"Poor little souls," Brannigan said, and Rose frowned at him. "Never known the ground beneath their paws."

"What?" the Doctor asked, puzzled.

"Children of the motorway," Brannigan said, as if this was all the explanation needed.

"What, they were born in here?" Rose said, shocked.

"We couldn't stop," Valerie explained, "We heard there was jobs going, out in the laundries on Fire Island. We thought we'd take the chance."

"You've been driving for two months?" the Doctor exclaimed, and Rose's eyes locked on his shocked face.

"Do I look like a teenager?" Brannigan said, although not rudely. "We've been driving for twelve years now."

Rose couldn't speak; her mouth had gone dry just thinking about it. Twelve years of driving? And she thought two months had been bad. Just how far away was this Fire Island?

"_Twelve years?_" the Doctor repeated, evidently in the same shock Rose was.

"Yeah! Started out as newlyweds. Feels like yesterday to me," Brannigan said with a wink. Rose still had a hard time focusing on the present time, whilst thinking that they'd been driving for over half her life.

"Feels like twelve years to me," Valerie said, and Rose turned to put the kitten back into it's basket, the Doctor doing the same.

"How far did you come?" Rose asked, her power of speech regained.

"We started at Battery Park. It's five miles back."

Rose just stared. She was getting worried now. How were they supposed to save Martha if they were trapped in here for another twelve years? More to the point, she was supposed to give birth in a month (well, the Doctor estimated a month, but who knows …) and she was _not, _under any circumstances_,_ giving birth in this car. No way, Jose.

"You travelled five miles in twelve years?" the Doctor said incredulously, as he felt Rose squeeze his hand just a little bit tighter, if that was possible. She had it in a death grip. He was sure she'd be leaving bruises.

"I think he's a bit slow," Brannigan said, as the Doctor coughed.

"Where are you from?" Valerie asked, kindly, as the Doctor shook his head.

"Never mind that, I've got to get out. For two reasons. One; our friend has been taken hostage and is in one of these cars, so we've got to get to her. And two; if you hadn't noticed, Rose is about to give birth, and trust me, she isn't giving birth in here. Her mother would kill me."

Rose glared at him.

"Anyway … we better get back to the TARDIS," he concluded, opening the door to nothing. The little lay-by they had found themselves on was gone, and from a quick look back, it was a while back; roughly around twenty yards. Brilliant.

He closed the door again, coughing.

"You're a bit late for that. We've passed the lay-by," Brannigan said, a little too late. "You're a passenger now, Sonny Jim!"

"When's the next lay-by?" the Doctor said urgently, squeezing Rose's hand in reassurance, which was clutching onto his with a vice-like grip. She was obviously terrified, but Rose being the wonderful woman she was, didn't want show it.

"Oooh," Brannigan said, a finger to his chin in consideration. He pondered it over for a second before answering. "Six months?"

Oh, bollocks.

* * *


	26. Police? What Police?

**Police? What Police?**

**Hi! ... um, i'm so sorry for being absent for so long. two months, apparently. i am  
so sorry but for reasons that include but are not limited to: loss of muse, uni work,  
illness and work. i'm so sorry. but here i am! it's shorter than usual, i know. but it  
felt right to stop it here and so i have. please don't kill me for not updating. thanks!**

* * *

_Thud._

"It isn't going to work if you keep hitting it like that."

The Doctor scowled at her, before hitting it again for lack of ideas about what to do.

The time travelling duo - well, they were a trio for a short period, but in a rather lengthy story that would take a while to explain their companion, Martha, had been kidnapped by people that didn't really seem like the kidnapping kind. And that left the Doctor and Rose in a car. Now, this car wasn't stopping (or moving, as the case may be) for what seemed to be another six months, and with the fact that Rose was due to give birth in approximately a week or so (well really it could be anytime), it was down to the Doctor to get them out of this car, out of this planet, and back home to Earth so he wouldn't be murdered by Jackie. Or a hitman Jackie hired to kill him.

The thought that he didn't have any regenerations to rely on now was frightening. Even though he couldn't die at all, he held Jackie Tyler as an exception. She could kill him with her pinkie finger and a _Eastenders_ box set. If there was such a thing as an_ Eastenders _box set.

Rose had suggested trying the police, to ask for them to help find Martha, and the Doctor had been trying for the past half-hour to get through, only to get the same answer every time.

"_Thank you for your call, you have been placed on hold."_

"You're the police!" he yelled into the transmitter, not hitting it for fear of a Rose Tyler slap. She'd become oddly gifted with her hand, and not in a good way, since becoming pregnant. Obviously the Jackie was coming out in her hormones; so the Doctor was doing everything he could to keep the Jackie side of Rose dormant. Which, in this case, meant not hitting the screen in pure frustration.

He picked up the sonic screwdriver again, for the third time, and buzzing it once more against the screen, but the same words came up with the same tinny voice.

"_Thank you for your call, you have been placed on hold."_

The Doctor sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. He turned his back on the screen and approached Brannigan, who Rose had been chatting to with Valerie. "Is there anyone else we could call? We once met the Duke of Manhattan, is there any way of getting through to him?" the Doctor asked desperately, hoping that the Duke was the same Duke he had met in the hospital.

"Oh, now, ain't ya lordly?" Brannigan commented, and Rose smirked. Her and Valerie shared a look.

"I've got to find my friend."

"You can't!" Valerie said, throwing her arms up in the air. "You can't make outside calls. It's impossible; the motorway is completely enclosed."

"What about other cars, can you contact them? Maybe we could contact Martha's kidnappers," Rose said, clicking her fingers as the idea came to her.

The Doctor beamed at her. "Genius."

"Oh, we've got contact with them, all right," Brannigan said, and the Doctor and Rose's smiles got wider, "But they've got to be on your friends list."

Their smiles dimmed; it was unlikely Brannigan was going to be 'friends' with the young couple who had kidnapped Martha.

"Right … who have we got … ah, here they are, the Cassini sisters!" Brannigan said, picking up the receiver.

"Car-spotters," Valerie explained to the Doctor and Rose. "They might be able to pick up the number of the car that took her."

The Doctor smiled. At last, this might actually get them somewhere. He felt Rose's small, warm hand slip into his and squeeze; he gave her a squeeze back, silently reassuring her that if he had anything to do with it she would not be giving birth in this car.

"Still your hearts, my handsome girls. It's Brannigan here," the cat said into the receiver. Rose laughed and the Doctor's mouth quirked upwards; Valerie rolled her eyes, apparently used to this talk from her husband.

"Get off the line, Brannigan," a woman's voice came through the receiver. It sounded as if she was smiling, though. "You're a pest and a menace."

The Doctor smiled, nudging Rose who grinned back; both of them could imagine Brannigan phoning them up, bored after not moving for several days, and basically annoying the hell out of them.

"Oh, come on now sisters, that's no way to talk to an old friend."

There was a huff on the end of the phone, and they could almost hear the woman rolling her eyes. "You know full well we're not sisters. We're married."

Brannigan sat up straight. "Oooh, stop all this modern talk! I'm an old-fashioned cat!"

Rose could see him as a grandfather, from her time, baffled by the prospect of technology and new ways. She leaned into the Doctor and spoke in a whisper so only he could hear her. "He'd fit right in with the early nineties," she said, smiling.

"Oh, he'd have to lose the fur, I think."

Both started giggling and Brannigan shot them a look that clearly said _'one minute you were upset about losing your friend and now you're giggling so quite obviously you are mental'._ Well, it was clear if you could read minds.

" ... they call themselves the Doctor and Rose," Brannigan finished, and the two looked up and stopping giggling at the sound of their names.

The Doctor reached forward, silently asking for the transmitter. Brannigan handed it to him immediately.

"Hello. Sorry. I'm looking for someone called Martha Jones. She's been carjacked. She's in one of these vehicles, but I don't know which one."

"Wait a minute," the voice of the woman (May, apparently) floated through the transmitter followed by a flicking noise that sounded like turning the pages of a book. "Could I ask what entrance they used?"

The Doctor turned to Brannigan. "Where did we get on about?"

"Pharmacy Town," he replied.

"Explains the drugs," Rose muttered to herself.

"Pharmacy Town, about twenty minutes ago," the Doctor said into the transmitter.

"Let's have a look … " she said, turning the page slowly. The Doctor's fingers drummed out an impatient rhythm on the side of the transmitter. Eventually the transmitter crackled into life and May's voice floated out again. "In the last half-hour, fifty-three new cars joined from the Pharmacy Town junction."

The Doctor groaned. "Have you got anything more specific?"

"All in good time, Doctor," May said. "Was she car-jacked by two people?"

"Yes, she was, yeah."

"There we are!" May exclaimed, and the Doctor and Rose both sat up straight. "Just one of those cars was destined for the fast lane - four six five diamond six."

"That's it! So how do we find them?"

"Ah. There, I'm afraid I can't help." The Doctor sighed, but turned to Brannigan.

"Call them on this thing," he said, waving the transmitter about. "We've got their car number. Diamond six."

Brannigan looked at him apologetically. "Not if they're designated fast lane. It's a different class."

The Doctor sighed, Rose looked down, their last hope diminishing.

"You could try the police?" May's voice crackled.

"They put me on hold."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to keep trying."

"Thank you," the Doctor said, handing the transmitter back to Brannigan; he took Rose in his arms and kissed her head softly, determined to find a way out of here for all of them.

* * *

After a while, it became clear to the Doctor that there was no plan. They - well, they meaning he and Rose, although he had done most of the talking, Rose just sitting there nodding - had sat for the last half-hour to try and come up with a plan, but to no avail.

Eventually, the Doctor found a plan. Well, he had thought of it originally, but had dismissed it. Now, it seemed to only thing left to try. And after a brief discussion with Rose, who of course went along with the idea with no hesitation, like she always did, he approached Brannigan and Valerie at the front of the vehicle.

"We've got to go into the fast lane. Take me down."

"Not in a million years." Brannigan's answer was short, snappy and well out of character for the soft, kind cat that the Doctor had met.

"But you've got three passengers!" Rose said, faintly, speaking for the first time in the conversation. She'd been awfully quiet during this whole adventure and the Doctor was slightly worried - it wasn't like Rose, usually she was vocal and as involved as she could be. She'd been involved, don't get him wrong, but she was much more reserved than she usually was. The Doctor didn't know what was wrong - maybe she still had a grudge with cat people?

"I'm still not going."

"She's alone, and she's lost. She doesn't belong on this planet, and it's my fault. I'm asking you, Brannigan - take me down," the Doctor said, almost pleading.

"No! And it's final!" Valerie got involved, and was quite adamant she wasn't going down. "I'm not risking the children down there."

The Doctor fell silent immediately, knowing that it was wrong to press them.

"Why not?" he said quietly, his voice holding none of the force it had done half a minute ago. "What's the risk? What happens down there?"

"We are not discussing it!" Valerie's voice was getting higher and verging on hysterical. "This conversation is closed!"

Eventually, the Doctor sighed. "So we keep on driving."

"Yes, we do," Brannigan said, barely audible.

"For how long?"

"Till the journey's end."

Something seemed to snap inside the Doctor and he reached over and snatched the transmitter out of Brannigan's hand. Or paw, whatever. "Mrs Cassini, this is the Doctor. Tell me, please, how long have you been driving on the motorway?"

"Oh!" Alice exclaimed. "We were amongst the first. It's been, what, twenty-three years now?"

"And in all that time have you ever seen a police car?"

You could cut the tension in the cramped car with a knife. The Doctor's question left them stumped, because it was true. They hadn't seen a police car in all that time. But they didn't want to admit that. It was like losing hope, losing any kind of spark that they would one day get out of this death lane.

"I'm not sure." May's voice was quiet and unsure.

"Look at your notes." The Doctor didn't hesitate. "Any police?"

When May's voice came back through it sounded upset, as if she was holding back tears. Rose wondered if Alice and May were people or cats like Brannigan. Could cats cry? She was trying to keep her mind off their situation.

"Anything official? Ambulance, rescue service? Ever?"

"I can't keep a note of everything." May's voice changed, was now sharp and clipped.

"What if there is no-one out there? What If - "

The Doctor was cut off by Brannigan snatching the transmitter from the Doctor's hands.

"Stop it," he said, angrily. "The Cassini's were doing you a favour."

"Someone's got to ask, because you guys might now talk about it, but I can see it in your eyes. Fear. You know - or at least, you've thought about it."

Rose looked at Brannigan. It was in his eyes, unmistakeable. Rose noticed the same look in Valerie's eyes, before she glanced down.

"What if the traffic jam never stops?" the Doctor continued, and had his mouth open to speak again when Brannigan cut in.

"There's a whole city above us. The mighty state of New New York," he said, raising his fist the the roof of the car. "They wouldn't just leave us."

Brannigan's voice had started out strong, but had ended on something akin to a whimper.

"In that case, where are they? What if you just keep going on and on, forever?"

"STOP IT NOW!"

Everyone is the small car jumped as Valerie yelled. Judging by Brannigan's shocked face, Rose could tell Valerie didn't have outbursts like this often.

The screen in front of them buzzing into life, the face of Sally Calypso came into focus. "This is Sally Calypso, and it's that time again. The sun is blazing high in the sky, across the New Atlantic, the perfect setting for the daily contemplation."

Rose watched with fascination as Brannigan and Valerie started to sing. It took a moment to realise they were singing along with Sally. It was a hymn of some kind, and it brought tears to Rose's eyes. It was beautiful. Rose felt a hand grasp hers and she looked up, seeing the Doctor smile at her with a funny look in his eye and he squeezed her hand in silent reassurance. She knew that look, though, and she sighed.

"You have a plan," she said, quietly. There was no chance Brannigan and Valerie could hear, they were still singing.

"Yes," he said, equally as quietly. "If they won't take me down into the fast lane, I'll go down myself."

"How?" Rose said. "There's no layby or anything, on for six months, apparently."

"I'm not using the layby," the Doctor said, and smiled a little at Rose's frown. "Look down."

Rose did as she was told and saw what seemed to be a trapdoor. She voiced this thought aloud.

"Yes, I think so," he said. "There's one above us, as well." He was pointed above their heads and Rose glanced up casually to see there was one, parallel to the one of the floor.

"What are you going to do, climb down to the fast lane?"

The Doctor smiled and squeezed her hand again. "Yes."

"I'm staying here." Rose's voice held both resentment and relief.

"Of course," he said, staring at her eight-month-gone bump.

"I didn't want to go anyway. Worse than smoking, that is out there," she said, nodding to the door.

The Doctor laughed, and Rose was aware that the song had ended and Brannigan was looking at them. His expression was funny and rather hard to decipher.

The Doctor turned to Brannigan and Valerie. "If you won't take me down, I'll go down myself."

He let go of Rose's hand, the other automatically diving inside the lining of his coat to retrieve the sonic screwdriver. He ran it along the bottom of the trapdoor, and after a few seconds it clicked and swung open.

Brannigan and Valerie both had shocked faces on. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Finding my own way. I usually do."

"_Capsule open."_ the electronic voice chimed. Looking down, Rose could see hundreds of cars. One pulled up right underneath.

"Here we go," he said, pulling off his overcoat and handing it to Rose. He grabbed her and kissed her long and hard, as best he could with a eight-month bump in the way. After they broke up, breathing heavily, he gestured to his coat. "Look after this. I love that coat. Janis Joplin gave me that coat."

"I know," Rose smiled. "See you soon."

"Not if I see you first," the Doctor said, and slid down into the hole in the floor so he was propped upright on his hands.

"But you can't jump!" Valerie said, both of her hands over her mouth in horror.

The Doctor smiled. "I am. And if it's any consolation, Valerie, right now, _I'm_ having kittens!"

Rose laughed, tossing her head back in mirth. Valerie giggled warily, wondering how the woman was able to laugh like that when her partner was apparently sending himself to his death.

Brannigan cleared his throat. "This Martha - she must mean an awful lot to you."

"Hardly know her," the Doctor said, smiling. Rose knew he would do the same for anyone, no matter who it was - whether it was her, or Martha, or even someone he didn't know, he'd risk life and limb to save them.

"Bye then!" the Doctor said, one final time, smiling as Rose waved.

"Bye," she said softly.

And then he fell.


	27. Car Jumping is a Dangerous Sport

**Car-Jumping is a Dangerous Sport, I Tell You**

**hello. :) i think you might like this one.  
that's all i'm saying. :) a few naughty words.  
consider yourselves warned!! :) and i know it's  
MEGGAAAA LONG, but it was either that or another  
chapter, and i didn't want that. so here it isssss! :)**

* * *

"He's completely insane!" Valerie cried, as the Doctor disappeared down the hatch of the car below. Rose felt a part of her go with him. She felt slightly empty because of it, but brushed it off. He'd be back soon, no matter what.

"And a little bit magnificent!" Brannigan added, and Rose couldn't help but smile. That, he was.

And what stung slightly was that Brannigan and Valerie didn't know just how magnificent he actually was.

"Yeah, he is, that," she said, quietly. She accepted the seat Valerie offered to her and declined and 'cup of tea' that was actually some kind of light-pink goo, and waited for the Doctor to return. However long he took, she would be here, waiting.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Doctor was standing in his first car of the day, opposite a man that was very pale and wore all white. He looked ill, but maybe that was the fashion these days in New New York. How was he to know? The man questioned who he was, and for once, 'the Doctor' wasn't going to cut it. The Doctor thought quickly for a believable cover story.

"Sorry," he said, still thinking. "Motorway Foot Patrol," he blurted, his words not actually registering with his brain. But it sounded good. The man nodded, and seemed to buy the story. "I'm doing a survey, how are you enjoying your motorway?" the Doctor asked as he worked on the trapdoor on the floor.

After the man had gotten over his shock, a pissed-off expression replaced the emotion on his white face. "Well, not very much, actually," the man said - he had a pompous air about him the Doctor didn't take to. "Junction Five's been closed for three years!"

The Doctor's face was a picture - slightly shocked the man had answered, and midway through a cough as the fumes came up from the now-open trapdoor. "Uh … thank you! Your comments have been noted!" he said, rather like a computer that processed complaints. "Have a nice day!" was his final words as he jumped onto the roof of the next car, coughing at the intense fumes.

The door to the next car opened easily and he dropped through, startling the two girls that were seated. "Sorry! Don't mind me," the Doctor said, and dropped to his knees to trapdoor once more. He spotted a blue handkerchief dangling off the back of the seat. He grabbed it without a second thought.

"You don't mind if I take this, do you?" he said, already stringing around his face so it covered his mouth, and hopefully helped stop the fumes from trying to suffocate him. "Blue's not really my colour, but beggar's can't be choosers!" The girls didn't speak, instead just staring at him in shock. He took that as a yes, and thankfully the trapdoor opened with an electronic-sounded click, followed by a similar sounding voice. "_Capsule open."_ it chimed cheerily, and the Doctor dropped through without a word.

He landed on the next car whilst it was moving forward an inch or two. He stumbled and his foot caught a handle-like thing, nearly sending him toppling to his death however many feet there was below the car. He regained his balance as quickly as he could, aiming the sonic at the door which opened as easily as the others did. He jumped in and heard the rustle of newspapers, and his eyes opened wide at the drivers, both of whom were completely naked and trying to cover their modesty with the newspaper.

"Sorry! Don't mind me," he said, ducking down and jumping smoothly into the next car, eager to be away for the nudists in the car. The next one was lit all in red, and a large man turned around.

"Oi!" the man said, pointing a finger. The Doctor just gave him a salute and opened the trapdoor.

The next (and last, at least the Doctor hoped so) car held a businessman as it's only occupant. As soon as the Doctor opened the hatch, the man had stood up and by the time the Doctor was on his feet he and the man were face-to-face.

"Excuse me, is that even legal?" the man said, incredulously, as if he couldn't believe a man had dropped through the ceiling of his car in the middle of a traffic jam.

"Sorry," the Doctor said, coughing severely, "Motorway Foot - oh, whatever, have you got any water?" he finished, unable to finished his now well-revised spiel about Motorway Foot Patrol surveys thanks to the intense fumes. It felt like someone had put his lungs in a vice.

The man nodded. "Certainly. Never let it be said that I've lost my manners," he replied, while he strode over to a water-cooler behind the Doctor and filled a cone-shaped cup with cool water. He handed it to the Doctor who drunk it all in one gulp, and got a refill and devoured that in a similar fashion.

"Is this the last layer?" the Doctor said, his throat cooled but still raw from all the coughing.

"Ah yes, we're right at the bottom. No-one below us but the fast lane!"

The Doctor nodded. "Can we drive down, then?"

The man shook his head apologetically. "No, we can't, I'm afraid. There's only two of us and you need three to access the fast lane."

"Couldn't we cheat?"

The man smirked slightly. "I'd love to," he admitted, and the Doctor could see a mischievous twinkle in the suited man's eye, "But it's an automated system. The wheel would lock." His voice was as disappointed as the Doctor felt.

"Right then," the Doctor replied, smirking back, feeling that he was glad that this man was on the last layer. It would have been harder to convince, say, the girls three layers above, or the nudists two layers above. This man seemed nice and the Doctor wanted to ask him his name, get to know him somewhat, but there was no time. Rose and Martha were in danger and he was their only hope of getting out alive. He kept himself focused on the job at hand.

He ran over to the trapdoor as the man exclaimed behind him. "You can't jump! It's a thousand feet down!"

"I don't want to jump," the Doctor explained, crouching down so he was peering down through the trapdoor, "I just want to look."

The man nodded in understanding and adopted a similar position on the other side of the trapdoor.

The fast lane was completely obscured with a thick, murky fog that was oppressive, swallowing up all the cars on the fast lane. It rose up and up into the man's car, trying in vain to saturate the small vehicle. Seemingly out of nowhere, a screeching, high-pitched roar came from the depths of the motorway.

"What's that noise?" the Doctor said, straining his ears for another sound of the noise.

The man looked worried. "I try not to think about it."

The Doctor tore his eyes away from the smoke and looked at the man. "What what is it? What's down there?" He bit his lip, thinking madly. "I just need to … see … " he jumped up suddenly, startling the man and little, and ran up to the front dashboard of the car. "There must be some kind of ventilation system," he said, a little manic, as he always was when ideas were flooding his head like they were now.

"I think so," the man said, one finger to his chin in thought. "But I don't know how it would operate ... "

The Doctor carried on like he hadn't heard him. "If I could just transmit a pulse through this thing, then maybe I could trip the system, give us a bit of a breeze."

He ran the sonic over the screen, praying madly that it would work.

* * *

Meanwhile, there was silence in Brannigan and Valerie's car. All three occupants were immersed in their own thoughts. Brannigan had one hand on the steering wheel, his other hand clasped tightly in Valerie's, who was staring out the window into the murky smoke. Rose was sitting on a small ledge near the back of the car, both hands on her womb while she looked at the floor, determined not to cry. That was the last thing the Doctor needed. She needed to be strong.

All of a sudden, golden sparks flew from the trapdoor above. Rose thought for one fleeting, amazing moment that it was the Doctor returning, but then realised that golden sparks weren't really his style. At all.

"Just what we need," Brannigan said angrily, jumping up. "Bloody pirates!"

Valerie was also as angry. "That's it, I'm calling the police!" she said, although she made no move to do the action.

Slowly, the spark went along three out of four sides of the hatch and the it swung open with a clatter and someone poked their head through, brandishing a gun that was glowing green. The person faced Brannigan and Valerie so Rose couldn't see it's face, only the white hood it wore over the back of it's head.

"The Doctor," a voice rasped. "Where is he?!"

Rose knew that voice.

* * *

Back in the businessman's car, the Doctor was knee-deep in wires.

Nothing new there, then.

He held the sonic screwdriver trapped between his teeth as he played with the wires, connecting them here and disconnecting them there with a zap from the sonic. Eventually a wire snapped in his fingers and a buzzing noise was heard. The Doctor beamed.

"That's it!" he said, running towards the trapdoor where the businessman was still crouching. "Might shift the fumes a bit, give us a good look."

The fumes _were_ shifting, revealing something beneath.

"What are those shapes?" the man asked, as the fumes evaporated to show something with claws. Big, huge, snapping claws that were snapping loudly and dangerously close.

"It's alive," the Doctor whispered, as the fumes cleared that little bit more. The claws suddenly were attached to giant, red crabs. The businessman paled.

"What the hell _are_ they!?" the man said, one shaking hand over his mouth.

The Doctor's voice took a while to come, and when it did, it was deadpan and deadly. "Macra."

* * *

"Novice Hame!" Rose exclaimed, and the cat turned around and smiled.

"Rose Tyler. Well, it's been a long time," she said.

"What do you want the Doctor for?" Rose said, crossing her arms over her chest. Last time she'd met Novice Hame they had been conducting illegal and inhumane tests on human beings. 'All in the name of medicine', they had said. A load of bollocks if you asked Rose.

"I don't have much time. He has to save him," Novice Hame said. "I only have power for two teleportation trips. I will take you to him," she said, and Rose shook her head.

"I can't teleport, I'm pregnant," she said.

"It will not harm you," Novice Hame said soothing. "We have to hurry!"

Rose turned to Brannigan and Valerie. "Thank you. For everything." After two quick hugs, Rose took Novice Hame's arm and they disappeared in a flash of green.

* * *

"What are _Macra_? And don't say 'giant crabs' because I can plainly see that."

The Doctor smiled grimly. At least he was with someone who didn't want to be bullshitted around, because quite frankly he didn't have the time or the energy to bullshit him around.

"Macra used to be the scourge of this galaxy. Gas," he said, looking at the businessman opposite him, "They fed of gas, the filthier the better. They built up a small empire using humans as slaves. They mined the gas for food."

The man frowned. "They don't exactly look like empire-builders to me," he said, squinting down at the giant crabs that certainly _didn't_ look like they could build an empire.

"Well," the Doctor said, cocking his head to one side, "That was billions of years ago. Billions. They must have devolved down the years and now they are just beasts. But they're hungry."

Suddenly, gold sparks flew from the top of the trapdoor in the roof of the car. Both the man and the Doctor looked to the ceiling.

The man looked annoyed. "It's like New Times Square in here, for goodness's sake!"

A pair of feet dangled down through the hatch, and moments later Novice Hame fell gracefully through.

"I've invented a sport!" the Doctor beamed as Novice Hame straightened up.

Hame smiled. "You are a hard man to find, Doctor," she said.

The businessman, meanwhile, was staring at Hame's gun. "No guns!" he said, pointing at her green-glowing gun that looked rather menacing. _I'm not having guns!_"

The Doctor smiled, his respect for this man increasing.

Novice Hame rolled her eyes. "I only brought this," she waved the gun, causing the man and the Doctor to recoil, "in case of pirates. Doctor, you have to come with me!"

Her urgent tone caught the Doctor's attention. "Do I know you?" he asked, cocking one eyebrow.

Hame ducked her head. "You haven't aged at all," she noted, smiling, before it fell. "Time hasn't been so kind to me."

The Doctor looked at her for a few more seconds before it clicked. "Novice Hame!" he exclaimed in delight, taking the cat in a bear hug; that was, until he remembered what she had done last time they had met and he pulled back, a look of disgust on his face. "No, hold off, get off!" he said, frowning as he pulled away from the hug. "Last time we met, you were breeding humans for experimentation!"

Novice Hame looked ashamed. "I've sought forgiveness, Doctor, for so many years, under his guidance. And if you come with me, I may finally be able to redeem myself."

The Doctor shook his head forcefully. "I'm not going anywhere. You've got Macra living under this city. Macra! And my girlfriend's pregnant and stuck down there, as is our friend!"

Hame shook her head. "You've got to come with me right now!"

"No, no, no. You're coming with me. We have three passengers now."

The Doctor's comment seemed to fall on deaf ears. "I'm sorry Doctor, but the situation is even worse than you can imagine. I can take you to your female, I've transported her," Novice Hame said.

The Doctor frowned. "Which female? Rose or Martha?"

"Rose Tyler."

"Take me to her," the Doctor said immediately, and Novice Hame took his wrist, pressed a button, and they too were absorbed in a green light.

* * *

They landed roughly on a dusty floor. The Doctor lay there for a moment, his head spinning. He put one hand out to steady himself. A small, warm hand grasped his other, with the intent of pulling him to his feet. The Doctor's eyes flew open at the contact and he swallowed Rose up

in a massive hug, forgetting about his spinning head.

"Rose!" he said, nothing short of delighted at seeing her. She seemed as elated as he was, squeezing his back tightly. Both were aware of the gaze of Novice Hame behind them so they broke their hug quicker than they would have liked and turned around to face the cat.

"Rough transport, huh?" he said, pressing the heel of his palm to his temples. "You can go straight back down, right now, and transport Martha out now."

Novice Hame shook her head apologetically. "I only had the power for two trips."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, get some more!" Rose squeezed his waist, and he calmed down a fraction. "Where are we, anyway?"

"High above. We're in the over-city."

The Doctor smiled, but it was not one of warmth. "Good! 'Coz you can tell the Senate I'd like a word. You've got thousands of people trapped on that motorway! Millions!"

Novice Hame grasped her hands together in a pleading gesture, her gun now discarded on the floor. "But you are inside the Senate right now! Maybe the Goddess Santori bless them," she said, her voice falling into a whisper at the end, almost as if she was praying.

Rose frowned, but did not speak. It was the Doctor that spoke. "Pardon?"

Instead of answering, Novice Hame lead them through a door. Rose gasped, horrified, and the Doctor frowned deeply and swallowed. There was a beautiful, vast chamber, but the rows and rows of seats all held skeletons. Withered away, decomposed until there was nothing left but the bones.

"They died, Doctor," whispered Hame. "The entire city died."

"How long has it been like this?" Rose whispered as well.

"Twenty-four years," Hame said, and no-one spoke for a while after that. The silence was deafening to Rose, who now felt so terrible for the cat who had to live all alone for twenty-four years, watching her city dying. Rose wanted to ask her how she survived if the whole city had died, but held her tongue. Now was definitely not the time.

The Doctor loosened his hold on Rose, who dropped her arm from his waist. He walked over to a skeleton and knelt in the dust beside it, but did not touch it. His anger at Hame had dissipated, now deeply disturbed. Rose felt similar.

"All of them? Everyone?" the Doctor said, turning back to face Rose and Novice Hame. "What happened?"

Novice Hame started walking towards the Doctor. Rose followed her close behind. "A new chemical. A new mood. They called it 'Bliss'," she said. She had reached the Doctor and knelt beside him, peeling a sticker from the neck of the skeleton.

"It's like the one we saw earlier," Rose quietly noted. "That one was called 'Forget'."

"This one, everyone tried it. In the end they couldn't stop, became addicted so to speak. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished - even the virus, in the end. It killed the world in seven minutes flat."

"Seven minutes?" Rose said, shocked. "Just seven minutes to kill billions?"

Novice Hame nodded solemnly. "There was just enough time to seal off the walkways and flyovers, sealing off the undercity. The people down there, in the motorway aren't trapped, Doctor."

"They were saved," he breathed, standing up and taking Rose's small hand in his, tugging her close. "So the whole thing down there, is it running on automatic?"

"There's not enough power to get them out. We did everything we could to stop the system from choking."

"Who's we? How did you survive?"

Novice Hame seemed to brighten at this. "He protected me. And he has waited for you, these long years."

Suddenly, as if waiting for his cue, a deep, rumbling voice echoed from behind them, speaking a single word.

"Doctor."

The Doctor turned and was flying towards something (or someone, as the case may be) before Rose even had time to register the voice.

Novice Hame was following the Doctor at a much slower pace, one that suited heavily-pregnant Rose much better than an hundred-mile-an-hour sprint. They turned a corner to see the Doctor kneeling in the dust, once again (and Rose would bet a tenner that he'd moan about the dust on his suit once he got them out of here). He had one hand on glass, glass that protected a giant face that Rose had seen before.

"The Face of Boe!" she exclaimed, standing slightly behind the Doctor. If she knelt down, it would be three and a half years before she regained a standing position in her condition, so she opted to stay standing.

"Yes."

The Doctor's comment was rather stating the obvious, but Rose didn't mention it.

The Face of Boe smiled. "I knew you would come."

"Old friend, what happened to you?"

"Failing," Boe replied, seemingly out of breath. If a giant face could be out of breath.

"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke," Novice Hame said, and three pairs of eyes swivelled to her. "But with on-one to maintain it, the city's power died. The undercity would have fallen into the sea."

"He saved them," Rose breathed.

"Yes," Novice Hame said. "The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running."

The Doctor turned to Novice Hame. "But there are planets out there - you could have called for help."

Hame shook her head. "The very last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years."

The Doctor turned back to the Face of Boe, laying one hand against the cool glass before standing up again. He turned to Novice Hame.

"You two stayed here, on your own, for all those years." The Doctor's voice was laced with something like sympathy.

It took a while for Hame to reply. "We had no choice, Doctor."

The Doctor walked forward and touched Novice Hame gently on the shoulder. "Yes, you did."

Rose frowned. Did he mean surrendering herself to the virus?

"Save them, Doctor. Save them," the Face of Boe rasped out.

The Doctor bit his lip, and then suddenly straightened out and turned away from Hame. Rose could see him taking in everything around them, a plan (not a very well formed one, but a plan nevertheless) taking form in his mind.

"Right," he said, rubbing his hands together, "First things first, we need to identify Martha's car."

"Here," Novice Hame, said, directing the Doctor and Rose to a set of screens opposite the Face of Boe. The Doctor whipped out his glasses and Rose leaned forward, both looking for the same thing.

"Car Four Six Five Diamond Six!" the Doctor said after a few minutes, pointing to the number of Martha's car. "It still registers! That's Martha."

"I knew she was good," Rose said, grinning at the screen. The Doctor, meanwhile, had grabbed a piece of thick tubing from nowhere and made to hand it to Rose, before he shook his head and handed it to Novice Hame instead. Rose rolled her eyes.

"It's heavy," the Doctor said, and Rose just sighed. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, throwing it into disarray. "Think, think, think! Take the residual energy, feed it through the electricity beds!"

"There isn't enough power!" Hame stressed, still holding the tubing.

The Doctor turned back to Hame, a mega-watt grin suddenly in place. "Oh, you've got power! You've got me! And it just so happens I'm brilliant at computers, just you watch! Rose!" he said, and she jumped to attention, "Every switch on that bank, up to maximum!"

While she was doing that, the Doctor had dropped to his knees and was now pointing the sonic screwdriver at some sort on knob that was embedded in the floor.

"Doctor," Rose said, "Not that I don't think you're brilliant, but what exactly are you doing?"

"Something," the Doctor muttered. "You'll see."

Rose smiled. "You haven't got a clue, have you?"

"Yes I so do have a clue!" he said, jumping up and dusting his hands. "See, _I_ can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people!"

"And so what are you going to do?" Rose asked, and the Doctor ran across the room to a giant lever that wasn't unlike the one at Torchwood.

"This!" he said dramatically, and flicked the switch.

All the lights went out.

"I'm guessing that wasn't what you wanted, because if it was, that wasn't very impressive," Rose said, looking at the Doctor. He threw her a look that clearly said _'Don't be a plum, of course I didn't want that to happen'. _Or something along those lines.

"No, no, that wasn't what was supposed to happen!" he said, mainly for Novice Hame's benefit, because he felt he had conveyed his thoughts to Rose accurately with that look he had sent her.

He started running again, to another console in the floor. Rose didn't comment this time.

"The transformers blocked," he was saying. "The signal can't get through."

"Doctor … " the Face of Boe rasped once more.

"Yeah, hold on a minute, not now," the Doctor said, still sonicking the console.

The Face of Boe ignored this. "I give you my last," he wheezed, and let out a long, rasping breath; suddenly, all the lights came on again, including the one of the Doctor's face. Everything was working again.

"Hame!" the Doctor said, having jumped to his feet, "look after him!" Hame dropped the tubing and ran to the Face of Boe, laying on hand on the glass.

The Doctor ran over to the huge lever once again, and throwing a massive grin at Rose, threw it again. The lights didn't go off this time.

"The open road! Ha!" he said, and ran and scooped Rose up in a giant hug, twirling her around, both of them laughing like they'd won the lottery.

"Right," he said, putting her back down on her feet, "I think we have some explaining to do to those people in the cars! Just a minute … " he said, once again pointing the sonic at a screen. Suddenly, it flickered into life, the Doctor and Rose's faces swimming into view.

The Doctor picked up a microphone. "Sorry, no Sally Calypso today, she was just a hologram actually. My name's the Doctor," he said into it, and Rose knew he was addressing the cars just in the same way Sally had done earlier when they were in Brannigan's car. "This is an order," he was saying. "Everyone drive up. Now."

Rose smiled, walking over to a window where she could see the first layer of the motorway rising from the depths of the city. It was beautiful. The sun was high in the sky and it bathed New New York with a warm glow that seemed perfect for the outcome of the day.

"I've opened the roof of the motorway," she could hear the Doctor saying behind her. "Come on, throttle those engines, drive up! Drive up, fast! Coz we've got to clear that fast lane, pronto! So drive up and get out of the way!"

Rose could see more and more cars appearing from the motorway, all of them seemingly glowing under the sun's gaze.

"Oy!" the Doctor's voice caught Rose's attention and she turned away from the scene below her, but he wasn't talking to her. He was still staring at the screen. "Car Four Six Five Diamond Six! Martha! Drive up! You've got access above. Drive up!"

Suddenly, an intercom somewhere on the console beside the Doctor buzzed. "Did I ever tell you, Doctor?" A familiar Irish accent drawled out. Brannigan. "You're not bad at all, sir. Not bad at all!"

The Doctor laughed, and danced his way over to Rose, kissing her soundly on the lips and taking her hand as they looked out the window. "You keep driving, Brannigan, all the way up! Because it's here, just waiting for you - the city of New New York, and it's all yours." He paused for a minute, just looking at the scene. "And, oh, before I forget," he said once more into the microphone, "I want my coat back."

Rose laughed and nudged him in the ribs. The Doctor scowled playfully. "I love that coat."

"I know," she replied, turning her gaze back to the gorgeous scene below her.

"I think that's a fair bargain, Sir," Brannigan said, his voice crackly over the transmitter.

"Car Four Six Five Diamond Six. I've sent you a flight path; come to the Senate," the Doctor added into the microphone, before he hung up.

"Doctor!"

* * *

Martha Jones had had a difficult day. If we had documented her story as well, this part would have been at least another two chapters long and we didn't want that. You know it, anyway. We won't get into the details.

She was happy to get rid of that car. Not that Cheen and Milo weren't lovely people, but that car was cramped and claustrophobic, especially when the air had gotten tight.

So it was with a lot of lightness in her heart that she skipped into the Senate of New New York, expecting the Doctor and Rose ready and waiting to return to the TARDIS. But instead, she came face-to-face with a skeleton.

"Doctor? Rose?" she called, not taking her eyes off the skeleton.

"Over here," came the quiet voice of the Doctor, drifting over from the corner. He was on his knees, with a cat dressed in white, beside a giant face who was clearly dying; there was water and glass all around the face, and it was gasping for breath. Rose rushed towards and and grabbed her in a hug.

"What happened out there?" she said, to Rose, who didn't answer her. Martha changed the question; they would tell her later. "What's that?"

"The Face of Boe," Rose said quietly.

"It's all right," the Doctor said, turning around and smiling. "Come and say hello. He won't bite. And this is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry."

Martha smiled uneasily, but accepted this anyway. _She really was very considerate_, thought Rose._ Most would have gone screaming all the way home._

"He's the one the saved you. Not me."

Martha's eyes snapped to the Doctor.

Novice Hame sighed. "My Lord gave his life to save the city. And now he's dying."

The Doctor shook his head. "Don't say that. He's got plenty time left."

Martha could tell that this face - whoever he was - barely had five minutes left of life.

The Face of Boe sighed deeply. "It's good to breathe the air once more."

"Who is he?" Martha asked once more.

"I don't even know," the Doctor said quietly, subdued. "Rumour has it, the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? You aren't about to give up now!"

"Everything has it's time. You know that, old friend, better than most."

"The legend says more," Novice Hame said, leaning forward. The Doctor caught her arm.

"Don't. There's no need for that."

Hame ignored him. "It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final words to a traveller."

"Yeah," the Doctor said, "but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?"

"I've seen so much," the Face of Boe wheezed, and Martha could see he was on his last sentence. "Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind - as you are the last of yours, Doctor."

"That's why we have to survive," the Doctor said, desperately. "Both of us. Don't go."

"I must. It is my time," the Face of Boe spoke his last words. "But know this, Time Lord - you are not alone."

The Doctor watched, horrified, as the Face of Boe's eyes slipped close and his breath blew out. He had given up. The Face of Boe, who had lived for billions of years, was dead.

Novice Hame was the first. She put her head in her hands and sobbed, sobbed for the being who had saved her from a terrible death.

The Doctor stood up, and wrapped his arms around Rose, burying his face in her hair. Rose wasn't sure if he was crying or not, but nevertheless she rubbed his back and buried her own face in his chest, near tears herself. Although hers was from quite a different pain to the Doctor's.

Martha had gone and comforted Hame, who was howling desperately.

* * *

Later, once Hame was taken care of as was Boe's head, the Doctor, Rose and Martha were walking along the alley towards the TARDIS. The place was deserted. None of the vendors who were there appeared.

"All closed down," the Doctor said, smiling as he took Rose's hand.

"Happy?" said Martha, who was grinning.

"Happy happy!" he chimed in response, grinning madly. He felt his hand being squeezed and turned to Rose, and was shocked to see her face contorted in pain.

"Rose? Rose, what's wrong?" he said, frightened. They weren't in any danger and she hadn't hurt herself, so what on Earth was wrong?

"I don't want to alarm anyone … " she said, and Martha rushed over.

"What?" the Doctor's voice was impatient with worry and concern.

"I think I'm in labour."


	28. What Could Be More Painful Than Labour?

**What Could Be More Painful Than Labour?**

**Um … does sorry cover it? I was away for a year? SORRY? No, I didn't think so …  
*sheepishly grins* enjoy? ****I'm gonna get this finished soon, I PROMISE. **

* * *

There was silence.

Martha was the first one to speak. "How far apart are they, Rose?" she asked, holding onto the blonde girl's hand tightly.

"Not too bad," Rose winced, "I think the Novice Hame's teleport triggered them. I didn't have any until I was in the Senate."

"Right – we best get you to hospital quickly because I'm guessing the baby is half alien and I have no idea about alien labours," Martha rambled, steering Rose to the TARDIS before realising they had forgotten something – or rather, someone.

"Doctor?"

He didn't react to the sound of his name, even when Rose called on him. Martha walked up to him and clicked her fingers once, twice, three times in front of his nose but he continued to stare at them in a blank stare.

"Doctor? Earth to Doctor?" Martha said, shaking him as hard as she could. Rose found the 'Earth to Doctor' slightly funny given he was an alien, but apparently now wasn't the time for laughing. Rose had an idea – oh, her mum would be so proud of her right now.

SMACK.

"Bloody hell, what did I do to deserve that?" the Doctor spluttered, staggering back as Rose's palm connected with his cheek.

"Um, you did nothing, that's the whole point!" Martha said, turning towards the Doctor and glaring, as Rose raised an eyebrow at her. "Rose needs to get to a hospital, now! And we're on fricken' New New Earth!"

"Oh, well, sorr-ay for having a small," he held up his index and middle finger, holding them together so they were barely a centimetre apart, "moment to panic! I didn't realise I wasn't allowed to. Please, accept my humble apologies," he said, his voice full to the brim with sarcasm. "And by the way, it's only one 'new.' It's New Earth, not New New Earth."

"Oh, whatever! And anyway, I was only doing what's best for Rose, but no, you have to make it all about you!"

"It is not all about me! Of course I care what's best for Rose, but I was only have a natural male reaction to the event!"

"Oh, well, pardon me Mr-I'm-A-Time-Lord-So-Clearly-I'm-Superior-Than-You-Or-"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP!"

Martha and the Doctor turned to Rose, who stood there with one hand on her hip and her eyebrows raised so far they merged with her hairline. She mentally smirked, and put on her best Jackie voice.

"Seriously? You are gonna stand there and argue now? Not when we get to a hospital, for even better, when all this is over with? Oh, no, you wanna do it now?"

"Sorry, Rose," they chorused, looking down at the floor like kids who'd been told off by their parents for being naughty.

"Right, can we at least get - oh, god, owww."

Both doctors, human and alien, flashed to Rose's side immediately and started fussing over her. After her contraction passed and they still didn't ease up on their fussing, Rose was actually starting to wonder if this was worse than them bickering.

They were in the TARDIS now, and after checking that Rose was (for the time being) okay, the Doctor let go of her hand and set about getting them to the alien hospital they'd agreed on.

* * *

"How long does a bloody labour take?"

The Doctor was sitting beside Rose, one hand was in hers and the other was flicking through a two-month-old copy of _Heat _Rose had found in her handbag. They'd been in the hospital for four hours now and they weren't any closer to having their baby. The Doctor wasn't being very patient, but Rose decided to let him off - he was saying everything she was thinking but was too tired to say. She just lay in her bed, her hand in the Doctor's. He hadn't let go of it since they'd landed on this planet.

Martha sighed for her perch against the wall. She'd just come back from the third coffee run. She sipped her drink. "Everyone's different. My roommate during medical school was training to be a midwife. She talked about labours being anything from a couple of hours to sometimes even days long."

"Days? Seriously? Bloody hell."

Rose squeezed his hand. She was tired, so tired, and was quite sweaty as well. She'd give anything for a nice shower right now. Another contraction hit. "Oh, oh, OH MY GOD!" she screamed, as the Doctor just held her hand and murmured to her. They were getting closer and closer each time. After it was over, Rose flopped back down onto the bed like a rag doll, as the Doctor tenderly brushed her damp fringe away from her sweaty forehead.

Then it came.

"Doctor, did you call my Mum?"

"Ah. Knew there was something I was meant to do … "

"Call her. Now."

The Doctor nodded, and reached for Rose's bag. And rifling through a lot of junk - "Why on Earth do you need so much stuff?" - he eventually found Rose's small mobile phone at the bottom of the bag. He unlocked it and pressed 'contacts', quickly scrolling down to 'Mum', and pressed call.

It was a few rings before Jackie picked up. "Rose? How are you, darlin'?"

"It's me, Jackie," the Doctor said, and he could hear the huff on the other end of the line, before a small gasp.

"Where's Rose? Is she okay?"

"She's … alright. We're in the hospital, Rose went into labour about four and half hours ago. I would have called you sooner, but I couldn't get a signal." Of course, this was an outright lie, as he'd 'sonic-ed' Rose's phone so she'd receive signal anywhere in the universe. But Jackie didn't know this. And what Jackie didn't know, wouldn't hurt her. Rose squeezed his hand tightly and giggled.

"Oh, my dear God!" Jackie said, and the Doctor heard a soft thud as if she'd just collapsed on the sofa. "Wait, what hospital are you at?"

"An alien one."

"And why are you not in an Earth hospital?" Jackie said, her voice going high. "To high-and-mighty for Time Lordship or sommat, eh?"

"Jackie, if humans found out that Rose or the baby - or me - were aliens then they would almost certainly lock them up and conduct experiments on them."

There was a couple of beats of silence. "Best if you stay where you are, I think."

"Hmm," the Doctor said, amused. "Thought that."

"Don't be so arrogant."

The Doctor gasped theatrically. "I wasn't being arrogant! I was being … right," he said, nodding. Rose raised an eyebrow. The Doctor chatted away to Jackie, who was telling him about her day (not that he'd asked, but she was going to be his child's only grandparent, so he figured he better start being nice) while Rose rested. She and Martha laughed as Jackie rambled on in the Doctor's ear, while he was rolling his eyes and was bashing his four fingers against his thumb in a chatting motion at Jackie. Not that she could see him. Thankfully. He'd get a whack around the head with a copy of _Women's Own _for that.

There was a soft knock at the door, and the midwife came in. Rose was thankful that the Doctor had chosen a place where the aliens at least looked humanoid. It wasn't that she had anything against aliens, but she definitely relaxed more around humanoid species. Even ones that had bright, fire-engine red skin and an extremely pointy nose.

"Hi, Rose," the midwife, who called herself Gadney, said. They'd all been introduced earlier and she'd come to check on Rose every half an hour. "How are you?"

Rose smiled a little. "Fed up."

Gadney smiled, rows of blue teeth shining in the light. "Well, I don't think it'll be much longer, honey," she said, as she felt Rose's tummy and looked at some screens. It wasn't Rose's voice that answered.

"Oh, thank God for that."

"Doctor!" Martha said, scandalised. Rose just laughed and ruffled his hair. Gadney was smiling too, as if she didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"We'll come back and see soon, okay?" she said, clicking the door softly behind her.

Rose flopped back onto the bed, rubbing her eyes. She was exhausted beyond belief and in total agony despite the pills the midwife had given her - all of which had been sniffed and licked by the Doctor before consumption, of course. Rose didn't really care that he'd licked them - it was too much of an everyday occurrence to care. And she had really, really needed the painkillers. They had taken the edge off, sure, but she was still in a lot of pain.

Another contraction hit, and Rose bit her lip and started screaming. "BLOODY FRICKEN HELL!" she screamed, as the Doctor desperately tried to soothe her and Martha held her hand, while Jackie was screaming down the phone. Gadney burst in, with another equally red and pointy-nosed midwife.

"Right, we think it's time," she said, and put gloves and examined Rose. "Yep, definitely time."

"Shit," the Doctor said, panicking again.

"Doctor? I wanna stay on the line!" Jackie yelled down the phone, and the Doctor nodded rapidly.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, putting her on speakerphone and resting it on the bedside table. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Jackie's voice came back, and it seemed to soothe Rose a little.

"I wish you were here, Mum," she said tearfully.

"I am, darlin', I'm here now," Jackie said, sounded like she, too, was crying.

Within seconds, Rose had started screaming again. This time, it wasn't over in a minute. She kept screaming, and squeezing the Doctor's hand so hard that he thought she'd actually broken it. But the pain in his hand was like sitting on a cloud compared to the obvious agony Rose was in.

"STUPID FRICKEN BASTARD! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!" Rose screamed, over and over again.

"Rose, please, just push, come on, you can do it, just push!" Gadney said, her voice calm despite the chaos of the room.

The Doctor just held her hand and whispered to her, while Martha was on her other side, taking the place that Jackie would have if she was here. Jackie herself, even a galaxy or three away, was making her presence know by screaming, "Come on, Rose!" down the phone at regular intervals.

"Push!"

Rose's face was scrunched up in agony, and she screamed again, long and piercing. "OH, YOU ARE SOOOO GONNA PAY FOR THIS!" she hollered at the Doctor.

"It's not my fault …"

"OH YES IT BLOODY WELL IS!" Three female voices chorused at him, and the Doctor just blinked owlishly for a few moments before Rose started screaming again.

"I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HATE YOU, YOU KNOW THAT? I HATE YOU!"

"It's crowning!" came a voice, and the extra midwife gestured for the Doctor. He went down and immediately scrunched up his nose and went back to Rose's hand. He looked whiter than white and Martha was seriously afraid that he'd pass out.

"That was both beautiful and disgusting at the same time."

"DOCTOR!" Jackie's voice rang out from the phone.

"Tends to be," Martha said, as Gadney smiled.

"Next contraction, Rose, and that'll be it."

"Promise?" Rose's voice was small and weak as she lay, exhausted and in agony, on her bed. This was worst than being shot on Felspoon. Oh, being shot was a walk in the park compared to this.

"I promise." Gadney's voice was completely sincere.

"Come on, Rose," the Doctor said, squeezing Rose's tiny hand. He was still paper-white. "One last time, yeah?"

"One last time," she whispered, turning her head towards him and smiling slightly. He leaned up and kissed her tenderly on her forehead, brushing away some stray bits of hair. He felt his hand tighten as Rose squeezed it, and he knew that this meant another contraction.

Soon enough, she started screaming. "WHY DID I LET YOU DO THIS TO ME? WHY? YOU BASTARD!" she said, tears of agony pouring out, as Gadney started talking.

"One last push Rose! On three! C'mon … one, two, three!"

The Doctor's hand was crushed as Rose put all her remaining energy into that one final push, screaming all the while. Jackie was screaming as loudly as Rose was.

"Done!" Gadney beamed, and everyone was silent; there was a heartbeat where there was utter silence, before a piercing cry rang out - the cry of newborn baby. Rose collapsed backwards, crying softly. The Doctor swayed slightly from side to side, as if he were about to collapse. Martha had one hand over her mouth, tears leaking out the corner of her eyes.

A small baby was wrapped in a soft white towel and was handed to Rose gently, who sat up and reached for the baby instinctively. "Baby girl," Gadney said, beaming as Rose gasped.

"Baby girl?"

Gadney nodded, beamed, and fussed around cleaning up.

The Doctor picked up the phone that was still on the bedside table. "Ja-Jackie?" he said, tears now streaming down his face as well, "I've got a daughter. You've got a granddaughter."

All he could hear was Jackie's sobs of joy. "You better come back immediately after Rose gets outta that hospital."

The Doctor laughed through his tears. "I wouldn't dream of doing anything otherwise."

* * *

"I think she's got my mother's nose."

The Doctor frowned at Rose, before looking down and inspecting his daughter's nose as she slept peacefully in his arms. Rose was lying down in bed, having just woken up for a two-hour sleep. They were in the hospital until tomorrow morning, as instructed by Gadney. Martha was asleep, stretched across three chairs that she'd made into a makeshift bed.

"Perhaps," he said eventually, shrugging his shoulders gently, as to not wake the little girl. "But she's got your ears."

"My ears? I'm sure she'll love that," she said sarcastically. She sat up, smiling. "Any ideas for name?"

The Doctor frowned. "We don't have to name her right away, do we?"

"No," Rose said, also frowning slightly, "but it's either that or my Mum will want her say."

"So, any ideas for names?"

"Thought so," Rose smirked. "Hmm … Lauren?"

"Nah. Nadine?"

"Reminds me of that Irish one from Girls Aloud," Rose said. "Might as well call her Cheryl."

"No way am I calling my daughter Cheryl. Fiona?"

"Freya?"

"Felicity?"

"Anna?"

"Jennifer?"

"Aniston."

"Don't be stupid. Nicole?"

"Eilidh?"

"Fearne?"

"Abigail?"

"We could be here all day," the Doctor said, "if we don't find one we both agree on."

"Jacqueline?" Rose snickered.

The Doctor didn't even bother answering her. "Don't insult my daughter like that! I would cover her ears if I could," he said, rocking the girl back and forth in his arms.

"Why did we chat about names sooner?" Rose asked, taking a sip of water from the bottle of _Evian _that Martha had thoughtfully left for her on the bedside table.

The Doctor frowned for a moment in thought, before shrugging as carefully as he could as so not to disturb his daughter as she slept. "I think we were too busy being stranded on the moon and chasing cat nuns."

Rose laughed quietly. "Guess so," she said, reaching forward to pick up the discarded copy of _Heat_ that the Doctor was reading mere hours ago. She flicked through it quietly for a few moments, while the Doctor paced around the room, scared to sit down in case the movement caused the hours-old girl in his arms to awaken. He sighed as she did anyway, batting her little eyes awake like a kitten, but she didn't cry. Such a well-behaved child already.

"Someone's awake," he said to Rose, was reading.

"Is she okay? Do you want me to take her?"

"Nah, we're good over here. Just read your magazine," he said, making faces at the little girl.

"Pfft! Can't believe Cheryl Cole dyed her hair red. It doesn't suit her."

The Doctor grunted. He didn't see a problem with it …

"Then there's Rihanna. Now, that's how you wear red hair. Cher Lloyd, can't stand that girl … Russell and Katy make a good couple, don't they? … oh, look, Kanye West has split up with that Amber girl … And I'm sorry, but Emma Watson looks better with long hair … "

The Doctor stopped. "Back up a moment. What was that name, the name you just said?"

"Emma?"

"No, before that."

"Amber?"

"Amber," he said, looking down at the little girl. "What do you think?"

Rose smiled. "Amber. I think it's kinda perfect, don't you?"

"Yeah. Amber," the Doctor said, smiling as he walked over to Rose and perched on the bed next to her. "Hey, Amber," he said to his daughter, who made a soft squeak in response.

"I think she approves," Rose said, smiling at her little girl. "Do you like it, Amber?"

Amber squeaked again, and the two parents laughed at their daughter.

"What about a middle name?" The Doctor suggested.

"Well, mine's Marion, after my grandma," Rose said, frowning, "But I don't think she suits Jacqueline. Or Andrea. Or Suzanne."

"What about just Rose, then? Amber Rose?"

"Amber Rose. Yeah, I like it. Amber Rose."

"We're just going to have to call her Tyler, since I don't have a last name."

"Amber Rose Tyler. It's perfect," she said, and gave the Doctor a soft kiss as to not squash little Amber in between them.

Rose's eyes flicked back to her magazine.

"Oh, my God … I just realised … Amber Rose … we've named our daughter after a model with no hair who dated Kanye West!"

Rose's scandalized look caused the Doctor to burst out laughing.

"Well, we'll just tell people that we named her Amber after the stone, and Rose after you. Which we did."

"We tell no-one that we got the name Amber from Amber Rose the model. Deal?"

"Deal," the Doctor replied, grinning. "Now get some sleep. We're out of here tomorrow morning - and then we've got to go visit your mother. Note I said 'visit'. Trying to prise Amber away from Jackie might be more painful than labour."

Rose giggled, but soon slipped into the sweet world of slumber, and the last thing she heard was her Doctor chatting away to their daughter. Amber.


	29. Going To London To Buy A Heat Magazine!

**We're All Going To London ... To Buy Heat Magazine!**

**bonjourno! not long to go know until the end (: and then it's the sequel!  
anyway, i hope you likey. and for the record: i have been to london,  
and i bought a heat magazine. for those in the uk, you'll know the advert!  
(p.s. cookie to whoever spots the line i kinda ripped off from _friends_ ... xD)**

* * *

"Overnight bag?"

"Check."

"Handbag?"

"Check."

"Amber's stuff?"

"Check."

"All four of us?"

"Check."

"That copy of _Heat_?"

"Oh, for God's sake. Yes, check!"

The Doctor smiled as he looked around the room that had been his home for all of forty-six hours, if that. Rose was dressed in extra clothes that she'd brought with her in her overnight bag, Amber was in the cutest little white babygro known to mankind, and Martha was in the same clothes she'd had on for about three days now. She'd been moaning for the past hour and a half that all she wanted was a nice, relaxing bath. They'd agreed - well, Martha has insisted - that Martha would return home for the time being, so that the family could settle in by themselves. Rose and the Doctor promised that they would pop in so Amber could see 'Auntie Martha' whenever they were in London.

Rose had been cleared for discharge an half hour ago, so they'd spent the time clearly up their mess that they'd managed to accumulate over the past two days. It was surprisingly a lot of mess, since they'd been basically living there for the entire time, unlike others, who'd been able to go home. There were magazines of all kinds, newspapers, food wrappers and countless coffee cups strewn across every surface. The Doctor, obviously, didn't want to leave Rose's (or Amber's, once she'd been born) side and Martha wasn't exactly sure where they'd parked the TARDIS, so they'd all ended up in Rose's (thankfully spacious) hospital room.

And now they were ready to depart. Rose had checked everything off on the list as the Doctor read them out, and Gadney was standing by the door to see them off. They'd developed a nice friendship with the midwife, she could talk (almost) as much as the Doctor and always stayed for a chat when she came to check up on Rose and Amber.

Rose embraced the midwife, thanking her profusely for all that she'd done over the last couple of days. The Doctor gave her a one-handed hug, as he carried Amber in her comfy car-seat (even though they didn't have a car, Rose deemed it safer and easier than carrying her around all the time, especially in the TARDIS) that they'd bought before the birth. It had been safely in TARDIS storage, along with all the other things they'd bought Amber.

Gadney smiled as the group left, giving directions to the nearest exit - the hospital was huge, and Rose had sworn a few times in the last two days - when she was screaming her head off - that it was the size of south London.

The group walked through the corridor that Gadney pointed them down, before they came to a crossroads of three different corridors.

"She did said right, didn't she?" Rose said, peering down the right hand corridor.

"I thought she said left," the Doctor said.

"Straight ahead, wasn't it?" Martha said confidently, pointing ahead of them.

"I'm sure she said right."

"It's like a bloody maze, this place," Rose said, shaking her head and wishing she'd grabbed a pen and paper when Gadney had been speaking.

"Well … let's go left, shall we?" the Doctor said, striding confidently out to the left and through the double doors that was there. Rose and Martha shared a look, eyebrows raised, and sure enough twenty seconds later the Doctor came back out the double doors with a sheepish look on his face.

"It's a … it's a dead end," he said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck with the one arm that wasn't carrying Amber's car seat.

Rose smirked. "Right, wasn't it?"

The quad set off right, and after working their way around a maze of corridors, dead ends and wards, they eventually found the ground foyer that was about the size of Chiswick itself.

The Doctor was walking quite confidently towards a set of exit doors, so Rose and Martha followed, taking in the sights of an alien hospital. Rose had been in too much pain to really appreciate it before.

"Ahh! Home!"

The Doctor's voice floated backwards towards the women, and they could see the TARDIS was parked in what seemed like a car parking space - although these 'cars' had seven wheels and seemed to be two storeys high.

"Doctor," Martha said, frowning at the TARDIS. "You've parked on a disabled space."

Sure enough, just behind the TARDIS, was something that vaguely resembled an Earth disabled parking sticker.

"Ah well, what they gonna do, clamp us?" the Doctor replied, gesturing for Rose to open the TARDIS doors as he had his hands full.

Rose snorted as she took the key off the chain from around her neck and opened the door to the TARDIS. The Doctor carried Amber in, smiling.

"Well, Amber, this is home," he said. "Not exactly the most decorative, but it's by far the best. Don't really want a decorative home, do you, Amber? Nah. Wait 'til you see your Gran's. Then you'll be put off decoration for life. Way too much paisley."

Amber made some squeaking sounds in response to her Dad's ramble.

"Don't try and turn her against my Mum already, Doctor," Rose said, eyebrows raised.

"Wouldn't dare," the Doctor smirked, handing Amber's car seat to Rose so he could punch in the coordinates for Martha's.

* * *

Martha looked around the TARDIS with a wistful eye. She would be sad to leave this beautiful, wonderful, amazing and completely mental spaceship she had called home for the brief time she'd been on board.

She'd had the time of her life here, with these people. She would miss them even more than she'd miss the spaceship and the aliens and the new planets and the running. Definitely a lot more than the running.

They'd been more than happy for her to stay with them, but Martha just felt wrong staying. She had a feeling within her, a feeling familiar to overstaying your welcome at a party. She had to leave, she knew it was the right thing to do. But doing the right thing isn't always the easiest. It would be hard to go back to her normal life, Martha knew, back to work and chips and TV and Saturday nights down the pub.

She glanced over the new parents, ooh-ing and aah-ing over their newborn. Yes, it was the right thing to do. They needed to have some space, to get used to life with another person.

And to be honest, Martha didn't fancy being awoken at random times in the middle of the night with Amber's crying.

Not to mention the Doctor and Rose wouldn't probably be the best people to live with for a few months, due to said crying. Although, on second thoughts, Martha decided that it would just be Rose that would be kind of difficult. The Doctor seemed to get by on little to no amounts of sleep whatsoever, so having a newborn baby crying at all hours of the night would probably be a walk in the park for him.

Pity he wasn't the one that actually _needed _to be awake. Poor Rose.

Martha perched herself on the captain's chair, taking in everything that was going on around for the final time. The Doctor was trying to plead with Rose not to go straight to her mother's house from dropping Martha off, but Rose was having none of it. Martha smiled. Quite right too. She'd never met the infamous Jackie, but she reckoned that she'd be a firecracker. She'd raised a pretty amazing daughter - after all, not everyone can handle travelling with an alien, loving said alien, saving alien worlds and carrying an alien child after all - and from what Martha had heard Jackie had done it single-handedly as well.

Martha liked to think that if she ever met her, she'd buy her a drink and tell her what a wonderful job she did raising her daughter.

She left the family and went to retrieve her suitcase from her room. She'd been preparing for this. It was only, really, a matter of time before she said goodbye to her life here.

* * *

"We don't have to tell her. We can sneak off and introduce Amber to Orion Nine. She'll never know. We'll just say we came straight away."

Rose rolled her eyes. "No. Do you know how fast babies grow? Mum'll notice if we go back with a two-week old baby instead of a day-old one."

"No, she won't," the Doctor mumbled, despite knowing full well that she would.

Rose whacked around the head with the well thumbed copy of _Heat._

"Ouch!" He cried, clutching his head. "Don't be violent in from of Amber. Already bad enough she's destined to inherit the Tyler Slap without picking up on needlessly violent tendencies from her mother as well."

Rose just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh. Really mature, Rose. Twenty-one, and a mother, and your best comeback is that. Mature," he repeated, shaking his head as he walked around the console.

Martha came into the console room, small bag in hand.

"Gosh, feels like I'm leaving home all over again," she commented, wiping her eyes as Rose enveloped her in a hug.

The coordinates set, the Doctor took Amber's car seat from Rose so that she could wrap both arms around Martha comfortingly.

"We're here," he said softly, leaning back against the console.

Martha extracted herself from Rose's arms, and walked over to the Doctor. "C'mere, you," she said, and the Doctor laughed as he found himself being thoroughly hugged by Martha. She released him, and sighed as she turned to little Amber. "I'll see you soon, little one, yeah? Mummy and Daddy better not let leave it too long before I see you again!" Martha cooed, shooting a friendly warning glance at the Doctor and Rose.

"Oooh, we wouldn't dare," the Doctor said, sounding scandalized. Rose socked him in the arm.

Martha picked up her bag, and sighed. "If I don't go now, I won't go at all," she said, and after one last hug from Rose, she walked down the ramp and left the TARDIS, only stopped once to wave back at the couple who stood at the doors, a tear rolling down Rose's cheek as she said goodbye to her dear friend. Even though she'd be able to see her whenever she pleased, it just wasn't the same as having Martha around all the time to have girly chats over cups of tea, or watch _The OC _re-runs with.

"We'll go and see her again soon, yeah?" the Doctor said, noticing Rose's tears. She nodded silently as he put his arm around her, kissing the top of her head comforting. She walked up the ramp towards the console, and he closed the doors on Martha's home.

* * *

"I'm surprised she hasn't been camped out here to greet us," the Doctor said as he poked his head out of the TARDIS, as they landed on the Powell Estate, in the same courtyard they always do.

"She's probably heard the engines, though," Rose commented, zipping up her leather jacket. "She'll be here in no time. What day have we landed?

"A Tuesday. I think. No - definitely a Tuesday. We always seem to land on Tuesdays."

The Doctor opened the doors and walked out, Amber's car seat in one hand and Rose's hand in another. Swinging from Rose's shoulder was a baby bag, full of nappies and bottles and everything else they would need. She was breastfeeding, but she did want to be able to get some sleep - especially with their lifestyle.

Jackie wasn't anywhere, and Rose was frowning. "Is my Mum's hearing going?"

"Is that the only reason you can think of as to why she isn't out here snogging me already? Can't say I'm disappointed that she isn't."

Rose squeezed his hand, but laughed anyway. "Yep," she said, as they made their way carefully up the stair towards Jackie's flat. "I'm slightly worried."

As Rose's hand came up to knock, the Doctor's hand reached out, quick as a flash, and caught her wrist, stopping her from knocking. "What?" she said, frowning.

"Shh!" he said, and put a finger to his lips.

Jackie's warbled singing was clearly heard through the door. '_You are the dancing queen, young and sweet only seventeen … da da, da da, da da! See that girl, watch that scene, here comes the dancing queen …'_ She sang, moments before she blasted the hoover on.

"So that's why she didn't hear us," Rose said, nodding in understanding as she banged on the door loudly to be heard over the Dyson.

"I can see where you get your singing talent from," the Doctor joked, laughing as he got elbowed by Rose - just as Jackie threw open to the door.

"Rose! My darlin'!" she said, not paying any attention to Rose at all. All her focus was on Amber.

The Doctor walked into her flat and handed Jackie the car seat. "Jackie, your granddaughter."

Jackie carefully unbuckled Amber from her car seat, and cradled her gently. "Oh, Rose, she's just gorgeous. All her Mum," Jackie said, winking at Rose.

The Doctor huffed loudly as he sat down on the sofa, feet perched on the coffee table. "Making it seem like I had nothing to do with it!"

Jackie smiled as she stood behind the sofa. "There is only one person she could have got all this bloody hair from!" she said, ruffling the Doctor's hair from behind. True, Amber's hair was as out of control (and as brown) as her father's.

Amber's little blue eyes blinked up at her Gran, and Jackie smiled. "So, Amber, yeah?" she said, stroking her granddaughter's little cheek gently.

"Amber Rose," the Doctor said, leaning his head against the back of the sofa.

Jackie looked up. "Whatever was wrong with Jacqueline? I called your middle name after my Mum, Rose," Jackie said, looking a little put out.

The Doctor shrugged. "We'll call the next one Jacqueline."

"The next one?" Rose exclaimed, shaking her head. "You're on your own for that one, mate."

"What?" the Doctor mouthed, "Just trying to keep the peace."

"It's fine," Jackie said, not looking away from Amber. "I'm just glad she's healthy and whole."

There was a few moments of silence, as Jackie took in her granddaughter and the Doctor and Rose just rested after a few days of mania.

"Do you think her eyes are just gonna stay blue?" Jackie asked quietly, catching Amber's tiny gloved hand.

"I dunno," Rose said honestly, leaning back against the Doctor as she watched her Mum with her daughter. "I haven't got blue eyes, and neither has the Doctor. Maybe they will, or maybe they'll go hazel like mine. Or really brown like yours," she said, the last part looking up to the Doctor as he looked down at her. "But I really dunno."

"I really love your articulation skills, you know that, Rose?" the Doctor said, playing with a strand of blonde hair.

"You're just as bad," Rose said, laughing.

"Too much time spent with you," he said, tickling her nose with the strand of her hair he was playing with.

Jackie laughed. "I'd rather you went a little bit less posh that suddenly Rose came back with 'airs an' graces' and 'talking like one is going to Buckingham Palace'," Jackie said, putting on a posh voice that wasn't actually that false-sounding.

"Hmm. Not bad, actually, Jackie," the Doctor said. "You could pass for a lady-in-waiting."

"Oi!" Jackie said, but she soon laughed as well. "I couldn't be posh if my life depended on it," she said, bouncing little Amber up and down. "I wouldn't wanna be anyway. Except for the money, 'cause who's gonna refuse that? But all the rest? They could stuff it. I'm much happier here," she said, smiling down at her granddaughter and missed the look that Rose and the Doctor exchanged.

"Anyway," she continued, "I'mma put some dinner on. Fish and chips all right for you two?" she said, reluctantly handing Amber back to her mother.

The Doctor nodded.

Jackie's voice floated out from the kitchen. "Have you two got everythin'? Like nappies, and bottles, and clothes?"

"Yes!" Rose said.

As the Doctor said, indignantly, "We're not completely hopeless, y'know."

The Doctor turned to Rose, frowning. "I like how she seems to think we're completely incompetent parents when we've actually only been parents for less than forty-eight hours. You can't judge someone's parenting skills in that short period of time."

"I wasn't judgin' your parentin' skills," Jackie said, coming back through with tea and biscuits. "Fish an' chips is in the oven, should be about half an' hour. But like I said, I wasn't judgin'. I was just sayin'. 'Cause you two are always gallivantin' off around the universe, I didn't know if you were prepared or not."

The Doctor smiled. "Thanks for your concern, Jackie, but I think we've got everything."

"Cot? changing table?"

The Doctor frowned, then tugged on his ear. "We've got that, but they aren't put up yet."

Jackie beamed. The Doctor frowned. "Well, you can stay here tonight, I'll get Rose's old cot - "

"You still have that?" Rose said disbelieving. "I'm twenty-one! Surely you've thrown it out by now!"

"No, I kept it just in case. You never know when these things might be handy," Jackie said, "And I'll get that out and you can stay 'ere! And you can put that cot up tomorrow."

"Okay, yeah. That sounds good, doesn't it, Doctor?" Rose said.

"I'm guessing I have no choice," the Doctor groaned, getting comfy. He was in for a long night. He grabbed Rose's handbag - Rose and Jackie exchanged glances - and rooted through it until he found the copy of _Heat_ they'd been carrying around with them. "What? We bought it when we were buying milk. Best entertainment I'll be getting tonight."

"Don't be so cheeky," Jackie said, although she seemed to be amused rather than insulted. She was getting used to his whinging - Jackie just took it as a back-handed compliment. He never usually made a lot of fuss about saying, usually just a few choice words here and there. He might be alien, but he was still like any normal bloke she knew. But Jackie knew that if he really minded about staying, nothing would stop him from walking out the door - and he hadn't even made a step in that direction. Just sat on the sofa, alternating between staring at Rose and gazing at Amber.

Big softie.

And if Jackie had anything to do with it, they wouldn't be leaving any time this week.


End file.
